"More than one rooster in the same henhouse can't work." Joan Laporta said it once. Now, ahead of Sunday's Clásico at Camp Nou, he's saying it again — and this time with six points of daylight between the two clubs to back him up.
Speaking to L'Equipe, Barcelona's president went after Real Madrid with the kind of surgical contempt that only works when you have results to lean on. "They've opened their wallets to pay for many very expensive players who aren't delivering the expected results," Laporta said. "Real Madrid has lost credibility, both institutionally and on the pitch."
He's talking about Kylian Mbappé and Vinícius Jr. Everyone knows it.
The Mbappé problem Madrid won't admit
Mbappé finally joined Real Madrid in 2024 after years of being Florentino Pérez's obsession. Since then, Madrid have not won a single major trophy. That's not spin — that's the record. And the tactical evidence has been damning: L'Equipe published a positional graphic after the Madrid derby showing Mbappé and Vinícius occupying virtually the same patch of turf. Two left-sided attackers, two enormous wage packets, one space on the pitch.
Both players publicly insist there's no friction. The gossip says otherwise, and the results don't do much to kill the story. Whoever manages Madrid right now is essentially mediating between two of the highest-maintenance talents in world football while trying to win the Champions League. That's a difficult job description.
From a betting standpoint, Madrid's attacking unpredictability cuts both ways — they can still hurt anyone, but their structural fragility means backing them in tight matches carries real risk. Six points down to a Barcelona side that looks genuinely cohesive right now is not a gap you paper over with individual brilliance alone.
The Negreira case hanging over all of it
Laporta, of course, is not speaking from a position of total moral authority here. Barcelona are under investigation for allegedly paying over €7 million to a company linked to José María Negreira, the former vice president of Spain's refereeing committee — payments that carry obvious and serious implications. UEFA has confirmed that Real Madrid submitted a substantial amount of documents to the ongoing investigation.
Laporta deflected almost immediately when asked about it directly, pivoting to Madrid's transfer failures instead. Whether that's confidence or deflection is a question worth sitting with.
"They haven't won anything for two years. We are winners, and we are candidates to win everything," he said. The Negreira case remains unresolved. The Clásico kicks off Sunday regardless.
