La LigaPublished yesterday 2 min read Español

Bernabéu crowd chants against Tebas and Laporta before Madrid-Sevilla

While Madrid fans called for Tebas's resignation and took aim at Barcelona, Laporta backed LaLiga's president before sitting down to lunch with Real Betis executives.

Bernabéu crowd chants against Tebas and Laporta before Madrid-Sevilla

Six minutes. That's how long the chant lasted, breaking out from the Santiago Bernabéu stands right from the opening whistle against Sevilla, and no, it wasn't aimed at that day's opponent. The target was someone else entirely: Javier Tebas, Barcelona and everything tied to the now-infamous Negreira case.

Real Madrid's fans made it clear they have no intention of staying quiet while their president, Florentino Pérez, remains locked in a public feud with LaLiga's top official. Amid banners and coordinated chanting from the section where the club's main supporters' group gathers, the message was blunt and left no room for interpretation.

"Tebas resign!", "Laporta keep paying!" and "Negreira keeps whistling!" echoed through the stadium for a good chunk of the opening minutes. It wasn't an isolated or spontaneous outburst, it also extended to the Spanish soccer federation and to Barcelona's president, confirming that frustration among Madrid supporters over these issues has been building for some time.

Fans of the Chamartín club have been especially vocal in defending Florentino Pérez throughout every chapter of this clash with Tebas. For a large part of that fan base, their president is practically the gold standard for how to run a major club, and any attack on him seems to draw an immediate response from the stands.

Laporta comes to Tebas's defense

On the other side, Joan Laporta didn't stay silent either. Before sitting down for lunch with Real Betis executives, the club Barcelona was visiting that Saturday at the Estadio de La Cartuja, the Barça president took the opportunity to publicly back Tebas, just one day after Tebas compared Real Madrid TV's conduct to Nazi Germany's propaganda machinery.

Laporta didn't hold back when assessing Real Madrid's stance toward Spanish soccer's governing bodies.

It seems like Real Madrid wants to blow up LaLiga, the refereeing committee, the federation. Nothing makes them happy. Thank goodness LaLiga's president is aware of it and has been through a thousand battles to fight off these attacks, which are unbecoming of a club that's a member of LaLiga.Joan Laporta

With those words, the Barça president made clear where he stands in a dispute that has already run through several chapters. Tebas, for his part, found in Laporta an outspoken ally right in the middle of the storm Real Madrid has been stirring up around him.

The truth is this standoff is no longer confined to boardrooms or official statements. Now it's being sung from the stands, printed on banners and answered in impromptu press conferences before lunch. The Negreira case and Tebas's role in it have turned into a direct battleground between Spain's two biggest fan bases, and judging by what happened at the Bernabéu, nobody plans on lowering the volume anytime soon.

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