Alvaro Arbeloa dismisses Joan Laporta’s Negreira claims before Manchester City tie | OneFootball

Alvaro Arbeloa has brushed aside Joan Laporta’s latest remarks about the Negreira case in his pre-match news conference before Real Madrid face Manchester City in the Champions League. According to Football Espana, the Madrid manager laughed off the claims.

Laporta, the former Barcelona president seeking re-election this week, has defended payments to former CTA vice-president Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira. On Monday he said the CTA was run by people linked to Real Madrid for 72 years and was sure Madrid had done similar, insisting Barcelona were innocent.

Arbeloa has previously called it the biggest scandal in football history. Responding to Laporta, he said he thought Laporta had quadrupled the payments to Negreira and that there was little more to add.

Turning to City, Arbeloa urged the Bernabeu crowd to drive the team, describing the tie as tough and the Champions League as very special to Madrid.

He stood by January’s view that Madrid are favourites in every competition and said they should not feel inferior. He accepted the tie will be difficult but said they will face it with great enthusiasm and look City in the eye.

This will be his first touchline meeting with Pep Guardiola after facing his Barcelona and Bayern Munich teams as a player. Arbeloa said he expects tactical surprises and several variations, and believes Guardiola often overthinks. Kick-off at the Bernabeu is on Wednesday at 21:00 CEST, with the return next Tuesday at the Etihad.

Source: Football Espana