Real Madrid and FC Barcelona have always lived in rivalry, but in recent seasons their presidents managed an uneasy coexistence built on shared interests. That balance has now collapsed. According to several Spanish outlets, the relationship between Florentino Pérez and Joan Laporta has cooled dramatically, shaped by diverging agendas, legal confrontation, and shifting alliances within Spanish and European football.
The first major break emerged around the Negreira case. Real Madrid has taken an aggressive stance, appearing in court as a private accuser and sending an extensive report to FIFA detailing what it believes were years of refereeing irregularities linked to Barcelona’s payments to José María Enríquez Negreira. In his latest address to the club’s compromisarios, or member delegates, Pérez repeated a message he has emphasized for months: “It is not normal for Barcelona to have paid the vice president of the referees more than 8 million euros over at least 17 years.” and added that Real Madrid intends to push the matter as far as necessary. “We are going all the way”
According to reports in Madrid, the club’s submission to FIFA includes a detailed reconstruction of controversial refereeing decisions dating back two decades. They say the report catalogues matches, seasons, and penalty data in support of Madrid’s argument that key league titles were influenced by officiating trends they consider suspect. While the case remains in the hands of the courts, the club is said to be ready to go to battle over this.
This hard line has coincided with Laporta’s shifting political landscape. In recent months he has drawn closer to La Liga president Javier Tebas and UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin, both long-time adversaries of Pérez. Their cooperation on the proposed league fixture in Miami between Barcelona and Villarreal, which Madrid strongly opposed, became another flashpoint. The club argued that the overseas match “distorts the competition” and questioned LaLiga’s bilateral deals: “these contracts should not exist.”
Tensions also deepened after Barcelona withdrew from the legal fight against La Liga’s CVC investment deal. According to reports in Madrid, the timing of Barça’s pivot – which came as the club sought to unblock player registrations – was interpreted as a betrayal by Pérez, who continues to contest the agreement in court.
The Super League has added another fracture. While Barcelona remains technically a signatory, Laporta’s appearance alongside Ceferin at the rebranded Association of European Clubs meeting signaled a public distancing from the project. For Pérez, that move left Madrid isolated. In response, A22 Sports Management and Real Madrid have initiated formal procedures toward a damages claim against UEFA, with the amount reportedly exceeding 4.5 billion euros. Pérez credited the project’s legal victories against UEFA’s monopoly, declaring: “the Super League has accomplished, without a doubt, a great success for football.”
Although the institutional divide is widening, both clubs continue to maintain respect on the sporting front. They compete for signings and operate within the same market, but for now avoid direct conflict over players under contract. Behind the scenes, however, the atmosphere has shifted decisively. According to Diario AS, Laporta has even framed the clash as a philosophical divide, suggesting Barcelona represents libertad “freedom” while Madrid embodies “power” – rhetoric shaped in part by his electoral precampaign.
For their part, Real Madrid have also cut ties with the Spanish Football Federation, accusing president Rafael Louzán of downplaying the Negreira case and supporting the Miami initiative. With only FIFA and Spain’s Higher Sports Council aligned with their current stance, the club sees the coming months as pivotal.
