El Clásico arrives amidst serious accusations and without Florentino Pérez in the VIP box

The charade is over. The relationship between Barcelona and Real Madrid no longer exists at any level. The carefully managed gestures of past years are history, and all of it will be laid bare during Sunday’s Clásico at Camp Nou. If one institution files a complaint against another – as Madrid have done against Barça – and completely distances itself from what the other says, does and thinks, the natural consequence is the severing of ties. That is precisely what Real Madrid’s hierarchy has decided to do. The reason is simple: Florentino Pérez and company’s offensive in the Negreira Case.

Real Madrid’s president will not attend the directors’ box at Camp Nou, although the club will still have representation at the stadium, in keeping with the minimum standards of sporting etiquette and support for the team itself. At the moment, the two clubs are operating in complete isolation from one another. At Valdebebas, Madrid officials continue working on how to secure what they believe would be an appropriate sporting punishment for Barcelona over the already acknowledged payments made to the former vice-president of Spain’s Technical Committee of Referees.

UEFA’s role changes the landscape

The renewed dialogue and normalization of relations with UEFA has opened a new scenario. European soccer’s governing body – and not FIFA – is the organization that could sanction Barcelona, making this newly identified avenue central to Real Madrid’s strategy. The club’s objective is to push for punishment against Barcelona for what it considers sporting corruption, or for conduct that UEFA regulations define as an attempt to alter the normal course of a competition.

The investigation keeps growing

The amount of documentation continues to grow alongside Real Madrid’s investigation. UEFA is aware of all of it, and the Madrid club’s aim is to secure a sanction that could ultimately lead to Barcelona being excluded from European competition. All of this has brought any understanding between the two institutions to an end. Although figures inside Real Madrid point to Joan Laporta – who had not yet officially resumed the presidency at that stage – they saw no sense in a presidential visit to the Camp Nou directors’ box.

In addition, those in charge at the Bernabéu continue their crusade against officiating and believe that much of Barcelona’s success has come from situations and decisions that have little to do with the impartial refereeing that should prevail. At Valdebebas, there is a conviction that fair officiating does not exist and that refereeing decisions have repeatedly favored Barcelona in recent years.

Furthermore, those in charge at Real Madrid continue their “crusade against the referees,” believing that much of Barcelona’s potential success stems from situations and decisions unrelated to the fairness of the refereeing that should prevail. At Valdebebas, they are convinced that fairness doesn’t exist and that it is a decisive factor that has repeatedly benefited Barcelona in recent years.

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