"Florentino, just say you don’t want Barça at the Bernabéu”

Former Barcelona president Joan Gaspart criticised Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez for his refusal to let the Santiago Bernabéu be used as the venue for the Copa del Rey final on 21 May. Gaspart was speaking to the Catalan radio station Cadena SER Catalunya:

"Real Madrid are scared of Barça lifting the cup [in their stadium]. If that’s the reason, then they should come out and say it and they should offer a thorough explanation to everyone, giving their reasons. Florentino, if you don’t want Barça to play the final their then be bold enough to say it in public. If you want to annoy ten or twelve thousand Barça fans or twelve thousand from Celta or Sevilla then say so,” he said.

“If Florentino says that he doesn’t want the Barça anthem to be repeated four times and see me wearing my Barça scarf then I’d say: ‘don’t worry. Florentino, I won’t go to the ground, I’ll do without - this particular fan will be in the bar watching the game with his friends,’” he added.

"One thing is to offer and say that you’re looking forward to it being played there [the Camp Nou], which I understand wouldn’t happen. But if the Federation asked for Barça to let the Camp Nou be used for a Real Madrid final, I wouldn’t refuse,” he concluded.