Real Madrid vs Oviedo: All eyes on the Bernabéu after El Clásico defeat and Pérez’s fiery press conference
Tension is building in Madrid as fans return to the Bernabéu following a turbulent couple of weeks on and off the field.
To say Real Madrid’s season is ending in turbulent fashion would be quite the understatement. Poor performances have resulted in dropped points, which in turn led to Barcelona clinching the LaLiga title in El Clásico. The ultimate humiliation for anyone of a Madrid persuasion. Even worse, arguably, has been the indiscipline and infighting in the locker room, which led to Fede Valverde being taken to hospital following a dustup with teammate Aurélien Tchouaméni.
When club president Florentino Pérez called an emergency press conference on Tuesday, nobody quite knew what to expect. The Real Madrid chief could have chosen to speak about any number of issues but ultimately insisted he would not discuss on-field matters, players or a potential new manager. Instead, he revealed a new presidential election would be held, attacked the media for what he described as an “anti-Madrid” agenda and lashed out at Barcelona, again, over the Negreira refereeing scandal.
Pérez addresses Valverde-Tchouaméni clash
Pérez did, however, briefly touch on the Valverde-Tchouaméni conflict, confirming that a “fight” had indeed taken place while also attempting to downplay the situation completely.
“The press has to analyze what it is, but they shouldn’t say that because two players get into a fight there is chaos at Madrid. They fight every year, well, they fight every day. And it ends there.”
Worse, according to Pérez, is that the incident became public knowledge thanks to a locker room leak.
“For me, the leak is worse, because it suggests there is something more than just a fight. I think it’s the first time I’ve seen this in my 26 years, and that also worries me. What is happening here is that someone has leaked this for the first time, and we know who it was.”
Since the incident, there have reportedly been fears inside the Real Madrid locker room about how fans will react to the team when they return to the Bernabéu for the first time since April 21 in Thursday’s home game against bottom-of-the-table Real Oviedo. “They’re going to make us pay,” one locker room source told AS.
Florentino Pérez urges fans not to boo players
To make matters worse, since Madrid’s last home fixture, a 2-1 victory over Alavés more than three weeks ago, their faltering title challenge has completely collapsed. A limp display at Spotify Camp Nou allowed Barça to clinch what had begun to feel like an inevitable championship with minimum fuss on Sunday.
Pérez, however, insists fans turning their backs on the team, whether because of on-field performances or off-field incidents, would do more harm than good.
“Real Madrid members should not criticize their players or boo them,” Pérez said in Tuesday’s press conference. “They have to support them. There are also bad elements inside, which we have identified since we removed the Ultras Sur. It saddens me that they boo a player for one bad play. They are there to help them. But what is this, the Roman circus or what?”
The Real Madrid president briefly relented in his next intervention, but ultimately doubled down on his view immediately afterward.
“If Real Madrid plays badly, people can boo as much as they want. But there is a movement encouraging people who are angry because the team plays badly to boo. If they are our players, it’s like booing our own children. They are being influenced by the ultras, by this ‘amber movement,’ who are heating up Thursday’s match, saying things like ‘Florentino resign.’”
Florentino certainly will not be resigning, but will the Bernabéu heed his words? Thursday’s otherwise meaningless game against an already-relegated team suddenly became a lot more interesting.
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