Laporta attacks Real Madrid

JOAN LAPORTA ESTRUCH , lawyer, business‐man, politician, and cur ‐rently the president of Barcelona Football Club is back in the headlines af ‐ter his verbal attack on Real Madrid. In his efforts to defend his club that is caught up in the ‘Negreira Case’ he has lashed out at his rivals.

The ‘Negreira Case’ al ‐leges that between the years 2016 and 2018, Barcelona paid Jose María Enriquez Negreira, the vice ‐ president of the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA), to tell players how to behave with each individual refer‐ee to give them a better chance of favourable treatment.

With reports coming out that Barcelona may be sanctioned by leaving them out of European competitions next season an angry Laporta has lashed out at Real Madrid saying they also received favours from referees.

Laporta said “I think it is worth remembering that for seven decades, most of the presidents of the CTA have been ex ‐ part ‐ners, ex ‐ players, or ex ‐managers of Real Madrid. In some cases all of them at the same time. This tri‐al will serve to expose them. It is an unprece ‐dented exercise in cyni ‐cism.”

He went on to attack Javier Tebas, the presi ‐dent of La Liga, accusing him of a lack of profes ‐sionalism with regard to the documentation he has reportedly supplied.

Nagelsmann on the shortlist

ACCORDING to reports Chelsea has held preliminary talks with ex‐Bayern Munich coach Julian Nagelsmann and he is now on the shortlist to take over at the London club. Other names reported to be on the list are Luis Enrique, Mauricio Pochettino, Luciano Spalletti, and Rúben Amorim.

The word from sources at Stamford Bridge says there is no clear favourite yet. Frank Lampard has been appointed as the interim coach and some discussed the possibility of him staying on, but with his third defeat in nine days we can guarantee Chelsea will be sticking to the candidates on the shortlist.

Nagelsmann, who many feel should not have been re‐moved as Bayern Munich head coach, has also been men‐tioned in relation to a vacancy expected at Real Madrid soon and a possible job opening at Paris Saint‐Germain, will the German coach opt for Chelsea if selected?

Chelsea meanwhile must focus on their next fixture, the Champions League quarter‐final second leg against Real Madrid. They trail 2‐0 after their defeat in Madrid last week.