Laporta backs Tebas and tells Real Madrid to look in the mirror

The cold war between Real Madrid and Spanish soccer's governing bodies isn't so cold anymore. This time it was Joan Laporta's turn to weigh in, and he didn't hold back, coming to Javier Tebas's defense right as the Madrid club called for the LaLiga president's head.

It all started with a comment from Tebas that landed like a bombshell: he compared Real Madrid's attempts to discredit referees through its own television channel to propaganda techniques used by the Nazi regime. Madrid didn't stay quiet, and on Friday the club demanded his resignation. Laporta, for his part, went the other way entirely.

The Barcelona president spoke to reporters on Saturday and got straight to the point, saying everyone should feel fortunate to have someone with Tebas's experience running LaLiga, precisely to withstand attacks like this one.

"I want to say how fortunate we are to have Javier Tebas as president of LaLiga, someone with the experience these situations call for"Joan Laporta

But Laporta didn't stop there. In his view, Madrid isn't satisfied with just going after LaLiga: the club also has the Technical Referees' Committee in its sights and keeps up the tension with the Spanish federation. In short, no institution is safe.

"It seems like they want to tear everything down: they want to tear down LaLiga, they want to tear down the Technical Referees' Committee; they're not happy with the federation either, they're not happy with anything. Fortunately, the president of LaLiga is aware of this and has the experience from countless battles to stand up to these attacks, which aren't becoming of a club that's a member of LaLiga"Joan Laporta

The Barcelona president went even further, suggesting that Madrid should do some soul-searching before continuing to point fingers elsewhere. As Laporta sees it, the Madrid club is making excuses because it can't accept a situation that, in his opinion, is the result of its own decisions.

"They've taken this stance of constantly attacking everything that happens in LaLiga, at the federation and with the referees. They invent a thousand excuses because they can't accept the position they're in, which is the result of their own actions. In my opinion, they should look in the mirror, do some self-criticism"Joan Laporta

The sporting backdrop gives Laporta some room to speak with confidence: his team sits six points ahead of Real Madrid in the standings, with the Clasico set for the Camp Nou on October 25 already on the horizon.

The story, meanwhile, didn't end there. Real Madrid went on the offensive again on Sunday, posting on its website that fans at the Bernabeu had chanted for Tebas's resignation during the club's league win over Sevilla the day before. For now, there's no sign of the standoff between the two sides cooling off before the two teams meet on the field.