Inside Spain is a weekly instalment brought to you by Football España, providing an insight into all of the major stories coming out of the rich and intense climes of La Liga and beyond.
Last week the bombastic refereeing scandal rocked Spanish football, and more details about the ‘Negreira Case’ have continued to leak out. Initially only snippets of information about the the suspicious goings on were available, but the issue has gone much deeper.
Barcelona paid Dasnil 95, a company owned by the former Vice-President of the Referee’s Committee Enriquez Negreira, €6.7m over a period between 2001 and 2018. Various referees have confirmed that his son, Javier, also accompanied referees to from their hotel to Camp Nou. A document asking for continued payment was also leaked, where Negreira threatened to reveal all of the ‘irregularities’, with another confirming he had done the club many ‘favours’. The question on everyboy’s mind is what exactly were those irregularities.
There is little clarity on how this will play out, but La Liga President Javier Tebas declared Joan Laporta should resign if he can’t explain it properly. Barcelona have launched an investigation, but Laporta responded that Tebas was ‘obsessed’ with Barcelona, and has been trying to bring the club down for years.
The other major story was the return of Lionel Messi. Laporta met with his father Jorge with several topics on the agenda, while Messi himself went for dinner at one of his old haunts with Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba.
On the pitch, Real Madrid propagated their mystique in the Champions League with their slaughtering of Liverpool, as Carlo Ancelotti declared Vinicius Junior was the most decisive player in the world. Just days before, their most decisive player was an 18-year-old by the name of Alvaro Rodriguez. He came on in their 2-0 victory over Osasuna, and provided two assists in just six minutes of action, with some tipping him to be the next big thing in Madrid. One particular statistic of his puts Eden Hazard to shame.
Their terrific week was dampened somewhat by the news that Rodrygo Goes and David Alaba’s injuries will keep them out against Atletico Madrid and Barcelona in their next two games – Alaba will likely miss the return leg against Liverpool too.
Elsewhere, highly-rated Sporting Director Antonio Cordon has left Real Betis, and could be on the market next summer. Real Valladolid have placed a €30m price tag on Arsenal and Newcastle United target Ivan Fresneda. Further down the table, Valencia’s new manager Ruben Baraja lost his first game against Getafe and slipped to 19th, with Los Che now in serious danger of relegation.
?? "Antoine Griezmann on a solo run surging through the middle!"
Fantastic finish by the Atleti man to score the opener against Athletic Club ?#LaLigaSantander | @LaLigaTV pic.twitter.com/CKmzIKZtUu
— Viaplay Sports UK (@ViaplaySportsUK) February 19, 2023
Finally, Football Espana were at the Civitas Metropolitano last Sunday to witness the various warring factions, where there is only one thing everyone agrees on – thank God for Antoine Griezmann. The Frenchman went full Messi for their winner over Athletic Club.
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