Being right about football and the history of Spain comes from afar. From the “I sent my ships to fight against men, not against the elements” of Philip II and his invincible Armada to “honor without ships is better than ships without honor” of Méndez Núñez. Quixotic phrases that, given what we have seen, are once again part of the DNA of FC Barcelona, already forgotten by Johan Cruyff, whose merits included banishing madriditis and the culture of complaint (despite the reasons).
The refereeing of Soto Grado and the VAR team was infamous for being homemade, a homemade from other times, when it was considered normal that a match did not start without the presence of the Civil Guard and the referees systematically swept for the home team. When in doubt, keep going, keep going. That's how the spirit of refereeing seemed to me. Very from other times, very analog.
In this life you can be right and lose it. As President Laporta did yesterday in a home video – the Torrelodones councilor was expelled from the City Council –, an amalgamation of well-founded complaints, absurd hypotheses – without the refereeing injustices Real Madrid and FC Barcelona would be tied – and a weeping background typical of the one he attributes all, all, the evils of their defeat to refereeing and have forgotten that the white team came back from 1-2 in the final minutes with ease, on their own merits and two legal goals.
Demanding a repeat of the classic is a chimera and surely those who request it are the first to know about it, which leads one to think that they are treating FC Barcelona fans as dupes (well, that's how we've been all season since the euphemism of the levers). .
Far from settling the grievance and giving it due sobriety, devoid of a managerial structure – a clique is never a solid structure – Joan Laporta played with the idea that FC Barcelona continues to be a persecuted club, which in Madrid and in Europe is he viciously harms them, knowingly, forgetting that this team is no longer the center of any universe and is going through a dramatic decline due to an extensive list of its own mistakes. From unheard of signings to damning messes. From a bench that was leaving but perhaps will remain, to a cadre, Caesarist board, in which the figure of the manager in charge of federation and arbitration relations in Madrid does not seem to exist.
If by pouring manure on the arbitrations, FC Barcelona believes that it will be treated better, something tells me that the opposite may happen. And more so with the background of the Negreira case, relegated to oblivion but as enigmatic as the first day.
Favoritism to Real Madrid is an argument that can, at most, shorten the ordeal of a season finale that is now entering a grotesque episode: with all the titles lost, Xavi can continue. What looks like a demolition is a project under construction. If this isn't magic for children...
