The controversy over the match between Barça and Valencia doesn't stop. The match, corresponding to the upcoming LaLiga EA Sports round, was supposed to be played at the provisional Camp Nou with 27,000 seats. But the City Council still hasn't signed the final construction permits and the stadium isn't available.
Faced with this deadlock, the Catalan club has requested to play the match at Johan Cruyff Stadium, which has just 7,500 seats. All the alarms have gone off in Spanish soccer.
LaLiga regulations state that First Division stadiums must have a capacity of more than 15,000 spectators. Johan Cruyff doesn't meet this requirement. Despite this, Barça is trying to push through holding the match at its Sant Joan Despí ground.
The situation has sparked outrage at Real Madrid and among the other clubs, who see this as intolerable favoritism.
To make matters worse, due to the lack of capacity, Barça won't give any tickets to Valencia. Laporta's decision has caused outrage in the capital of Turia.
Real Madrid's outrage
At Real Madrid, this issue is being experienced with maximum irritation. The white club claims that, if Madridists were in that situation, a similar scenario would never be allowed. At Bernabéu, they recall that the regulations are clear and that Barça shouldn't bypass them with LaLiga's complicity.
The Madrid board believes that playing in a stadium with such a small capacity is an obvious competitive advantage. The atmosphere at the provisional Camp Nou is nothing like that of such a small ground. In theory, the one who benefits is Barça.
In addition, they believe that this move is an affront to all the clubs that strictly comply with the competition's requirements.
Roncero mocks the "riduculé"
Journalist Tomás Roncero, always highly critical of Barça, hasn't missed the chance to attack the blaugrana club.
In his media appearances, he has described the situation as a true "riduculé," a term that's already going viral among Madridist fans on social media.
For Roncero, it's incomprehensible that a club of Barça's magnitude would play LaLiga matches in a stadium with just 7,500 people. He sees it as yet another symptom of the institutional and sporting decline the club is experiencing.
"They're the laughingstock of Europe," he has even stated. He has insisted that not even in lower leagues are such low-capacity venues accepted for top-tier matches.
Challenges on the horizon
Beyond the criticism, Real Madrid and other clubs are considering formal measures. The possibility of challenging the match is on the table. Many believe there will be a wave of complaints.
Among Madridists, the view is clear: if LaLiga accepts this exception, it will be exposed before all of Europe. If Florentino Pérez allows it without raising his voice, it would be seen as complicit silence.
That's why, from Valdebebas and Chamartín, they're already preparing a united front with other teams to prevent what they consider a competitive fraud.
The battle is on
Barça wants to play at Johan Cruyff, LaLiga hesitates, the City Council won't sign. Real Madrid is mobilizing against what it considers an outrage. The result is a perfect storm that threatens to unleash one of the season's biggest controversies.
What is clear is that, wherever it plays, Barça won't be able to escape the "riduculé" coined by Roncero.