Laporta said on the sidelines of the event, on Friday: “I remember the statements of Real Madrid. I think they are in an offside position, which indicates a ‘Barça phobia’ that Real suffers from. It seems they have to talk about Barça to justify things I don’t know what they are.”
He added: “They are present at every moment of the judicial process of the Negreira case, and they prolong it like chewing gum, because they know there is nothing, but it is a way to justify something that is not true: Barcelona has never bought a referee, and the referees do not favor Barcelona in general. They have favored Real Madrid throughout their lives.”
He continued his speech criticizing the events of the past round: “They scored two clear goals from my point of view: Bellingham touched the ball with his hand, which made it easier for him to score, and in the other goal, Vinicius broke Iñaki’s nose. These two goals should not have been counted, and now Barcelona would be leading the league.”
Laporta added: “Real Madrid TV tries to influence the referees every week. Everyone can see that they are trying to influence the referees week after week, and that’s shameful.”
He went on to say: “You can’t be cynical and say that they favor Barça, you just have to look at the heads of the Referees Committee, who were former partners, former directors, or former players of Real Madrid. What their TV channel says is worth studying. I understand the social Madridismo that exists, but they shouldn’t give us little lessons and tarnish our reputation.”
“Persecution Mania”
The president of the Catalan club added: “They have a persecution mania against the best phase in Barça’s history. They didn’t like that Barça was dominating the world from 2004 to 2015, and they want to look for justifications that lead nowhere.”
Laporta continued: “We were the best team, Barcelona won on its own merit. If they suffer from Barça phobia, I’m happy, because these times are usually successful for Barcelona. If they talk about Barça, it’s to distract attention from other stories that are not going well for them. Maybe they are in a panic because Barcelona is returning, and we can live a great period, they want to belittle it or question it, but we will not allow it.”
He touched on Real Madrid’s attack on Javier Tebas, the president of La Liga, saying: “They also attacked the president of the Spanish League Association. This makes me think badly. I have had ups and downs with Javier Tebas, he is a noble person who lives his position with great passion. We have a normal relationship with him, not a privileged one.”
He continued: “Real Madrid has a confrontational relationship with the League Association, and they are obsessed with removing him. They want to put someone else in, I don’t feel confident in this strategy. Javier Tebas is doing everything he can to improve La Liga and make it competitive. So, this makes me suspect that they are trying to get him out to put who?”
Chelsea’s Hat-Trick
Regarding the recent defeat against Chelsea (3-0) in the Champions League, Laporta stated: “I spoke with Flick after returning from London, I liked Hans and the team’s reaction. They are uniting together. Hans is optimistic, and I think this result will be a turning point. In our history, a bad result has often motivated us towards a successful season. I am sure this will be the case.”
He defended Ronald Araujo, who was sent off in the Chelsea match, saying: “I want to defend Araujo and encourage him. He has been heavily criticized, and I don’t think it’s fair. He gives everything he has on the field. He is our leader. He must overcome this moment. I want to tell him that we are with him, and that we all win and lose. We are a team. No one person is responsible for victories or defeats.”
He touched on the injuries, saying: “We have recovered Pedri. But Fermin, for prevention, will not play for two weeks. Juan Garcia is also fine now. And Raphinha will be able to play for more minutes. We are competing for the top of La Liga. If we beat Alaves, we will be in first place.”
Regarding the club’s situation, Laporta concluded: “The economic situation was complicated, but the club has been financially rescued. We are in a recovery phase. Joy has settled in Barça, and this generates panic for Real Madrid, fearing that we will regain a great phase. We already started doing that last year.”
