Super League conniving best friends, raging together against everything from the financial clout of the Premier League to the might of UEFA, Real Madrid and Barcelona, have run hand in hand in recent years.
But that special relationship is now a garbage can after Joan Laporta used the dreaded phrase “regime club” during his two-hour press conference on Monday.
He didn’t exactly call them the regime’s club, he said “they were considered the regime’s club,” but the four words were still in the air on Monday, poisonous and pungent.
The regime referred to is, of course, the dictatorship of Francisco Franco from 1936 to 1975. And on Monday, Real Madrid had responded within hours with a four-minute video asking the question, “Who is the regime’s club?” .
The video was about arguing that Barcelona had ties to Franco.
Real Madrid put together a video to hit back at Barcelona over ‘the regime’s club’ joke
Florentino Perez (left) no longer travels to Barcelona for Clásico matches due to tensions
It made it clear that Camp Nou was inaugurated by Franco’s minister-general, Jose Solis, with a mass celebrated on the pitch to the tune of the Spanish national anthem.
The list continued with references to Barcelona awarding a medal to Franco and making him an honorary member in 1965.
Barcelona was saved from bankruptcy three times, winning eight leagues and nine Copas del Generalisimo.
And for every alleged favor rendered to Barcelona, the video showed a disdain for Real Madrid of the same era.
“Under Franco it took Real Madrid 15 years to win the league,” the video says.
It ends with former president Santiago Bernabeu saying: ‘When I hear that Real Madrid have been the regime’s team, it makes me want to shit on the father of the person who said it’.
If that last one seems a bit vulgar, keep in mind that “sh*ting on this” and “sh*ting on the other” are just stock phrases, part of the idiosyncrasies of Spanish swearing.
The examples given in the video can be debated, just as Laporta’s inflammatory phrase can be debated.
For example, it would have been impossible for Barcelona to open their new ground without the presence of the Franco government – opening it in Franco’s Spain, they would have had little choice.
Barcelona chief Joan Laporta defended his club by going on the offensive against Real Madrid
But debate aside, one thing is perfectly clear: the love between Madrid and Barcelona is over.
The two rivals began to grow closer at the end of the pandemic. The economies of both clubs had been devastated by losses in matchday revenue due to closed stadiums and a temporary halt to football tourism.
Real Madrid decided it was time to hit the ‘go’ button on their long-held ambition to take charge of the Champions League and eliminate the UEFA middleman. Barcelona were willing accomplices and, along with Juventus, are the only survivors of the original failed coup.
Madrid and Barça also joined forces when LaLiga forged a financial plan with investment fund CVC in which all clubs in Spain’s top two divisions would receive a lump sum in return for giving up a percentage of future TV rights revenues.
Both Real Madrid and Barcelona pulled out of the arrangement, believing they could go their separate ways and find better financial terms in the process.
There are some reasons to believe that it was Barcelona’s rejection of the plan that led them to turn around to pay for Lionel Messi’s new contract – or in more conspiracy theoretic terms, if they had played along with Barcelona’s plan. LaLiga, they might have found it easy to register a new contract for Messi, once they pulled out it became impossible.
He has claimed that Barcelona’s rivals Real Madrid have traditionally been ‘favoured’ by officials
Business between the two clubs began to crumble as the corruption scandal came to light. Real Madrid responded by backing the prosecution’s case against Barcelona, with Laporta accusing them of massive cynicism.
In the last few Clásicos Madrid, President Florentino Perez has not gone to Camp Nou and therefore there has been no traditional pre-match meal.
After Laporta’s tirade on Monday and Madrid’s backlash, it doesn’t look like they’ll be sharing a table anytime soon.
“We joined Super League because we want to reorganize football, not because of who the other clubs were,” Laporta said on Monday. They are certainly very uncomfortable co-conspirators now.