If I remember correctly the tv rights in La Liga are sold by club rather than as a collective league so Real and Barca would be getting a much bigger slice of that pie than they would if they were in the EPL. Between that, their huge grounds and the commercial revenue from their historic fanbases I guess they still need to tap up players in order to compete with City. And they still get into financial trouble as doc mentions above and Barca more recently.
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Never knowingly optimistic -
Real Madrid’s nefarious attacks on referees part of Super League plan
La Liga giants need to justify continued push for breakaway league. What better validation than the falsehood they cannot get a fair game in the existing competitions?
Martin Samuel, The Times
Anything that is not stopped is encouraged, and nobody in Spanish football has been brave enough to stop Real Madrid for too long now.
Not Javier Tebas, the talkative head of La Liga, not the Spanish football federation (RFEF), whose showpiece match, the Copa del Rey final, was besmirched at the weekend. Real Madrid had soured the preamble with slurs and conspiracy theories, and what unfolded was the product. Antonio Rüdiger dismissed for aiming an icy missile at the referee, Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea; Lucas Vázquez sent off for invading the pitch in protest; Jude Bellingham dismissed for further dissent in the closing minutes of the 3-2 defeat by Barcelona. What a shower they are.
Yet this has been coming. It has been coming all season as Madrid continue to perpetuate their bogus tales of bias and injustice. Even Carlo Ancelotti is not immune to it now. Madrid’s saving grace, a calm and dignified presence on the touchline, he too was booked in the final, because everyone at the club has to buy into the ludicrous notion that the world is against them. Witness the boycott of last year’s Ballon d’Or award ceremony, because the judges had the temerity to select Rodri ahead of Vinícius Jr.
The most contemptible development of all came on the eve of the game, after a crisis that was entirely provoked by the club. Real were trying to get the match officials changed, amid speculation they would not play at all. And that should have been the end of it.
Instead of a 40-minute conversation with the Real director general, José Ángel Sánchez, the RFEF president, Rafael Louzán, should have issued the ultimate sanction. Real had tried to unfairly influence the outcome of the match by putting undue pressure on the officials — so Real should be gone. Let them explain it to their fans, already in Seville before the fixture. Let them explain it to their players, denied what may be their last shot at glory this season, with Barcelona in control at the top of La Liga.
All season, Real Madrid’s television network has been releasing videos calling into question the integrity of referees. The one released before the final about De Burgos Bengoetxea had reduced him to tears at a press conference. At that point, the authorities should have acted. Not because of the crying, but for what those tears represented. The overwhelming pressure to steer the game Real’s way. To give them a penalty, to overlook their misdemeanours.
It is increasingly impossible not to read an even deeper cynicism into this nefarious campaign. Real need to justify their continued drive for an exclusive Super League. What better validation than the falsehood they cannot get a fair game in the existing competitions? That the federation, the league, and Uefa are influencing referees to conspire against them? A club who consistently get their own way playing the victim, the underdog. The club of General Franco and royalty. Poor little Real Madrid.
If Tebas was as interested in Spanish football as he is in poking his nose into business over here, he would have acted earlier in the season. Say what you like about the Premier League, but no club would be able to replicate the slanderous insinuations of RMTV. Referees make mistakes and can be criticised for them — that is free speech.
Yet there are protocols here that stop a manager or club from so much as discussing the merits of an official prior to the match. Ancelotti and Sir Alex Ferguson were warned for actually praising Howard Webb before Chelsea played Manchester United in 2011. What Madrid did to De Burgos Bengoetxea, by comparison, was scandalous, and should have been enough to merit expulsion. A line has to be drawn.
So, in some ways, the Copa del Rey got the final it deserved. An embarrassment, a travesty. There is talk referees in Spain could strike if this continues. In a country beset by blackouts, this would be a darkness that felt somehow deserved.What do you mean it could've been anyone? Name me one person who's got a grudge against penguins
Batman
F*** off!!!Comment
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Was Bellingham always a bit of a knob, or has the Real Madrid taint rubbed off on him and changed him for the worse?
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a bit of both I reckon... Klopp probably found out that he was a knob & decided not to push too emphasis on signing him.Originally posted by Scratch View PostNope, don't need anger management, you just need to stop pissing me off!Comment
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Madrid has certainly amplified it though...Originally posted by spud_gun View PostThe only gracious way to accept an insult is to ignore it; if you can't ignore it, top it; if you can't top it, laugh at it; if you can't laugh at it, it's probably deserved.Comment
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Imagine getting webbed up with Real in a Super League; it would be like being in the wild west with a bent Sheriff in charge.Comment
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Exactly thisOriginally posted by BootRoom View Post
Me, I’m either planning a holiday or I’m on one.Comment
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Looks like Xabi Alonso on his way back to Madrid
Nope, don't need anger management, you just need to stop pissing me off!Comment
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That's almost as predictable as Trent joining themComment
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You’d have to laugh if he said he didn’t want Trent after all the talk over the past 12-18 monthsMe, I’m either planning a holiday or I’m on one.Comment
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As if the Real Madrid manager has a say in which players they bring inOriginally posted by SB View Post
The only gracious way to accept an insult is to ignore it; if you can't ignore it, top it; if you can't top it, laugh at it; if you can't laugh at it, it's probably deserved.Comment
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...Really?Comment
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Never liked him anywayComment
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