Barcelona interim president hits back at Florentino Perez over Negreira accusations – ‘Pathetic and full of lies’ | OneFootball

Barcelona interim president Rafa Yuste launched a fierce response to Florentino Perez a day after the Real Madrid president made strong accusations against the Catalan club.

The Real Madrid chief, in an explosive press conference, attacked Barça using the Negreira case, stating that he and Los Blancos had seven La Liga titles stolen from them because of it.

Perez also claimed that Real Madrid are compiling a dossier that they intend to send to UEFA to show how Barça are favoured by match officials.

Rafa Yuste hits back

Now, speaking before the directors’ lunch ahead of Barcelona’s game with Deportivo Alaves, Yuste accused Perez of attempting to divert attention away from Real Madrid’s sporting struggles.

“Florentino’s words struck me as pathetic and full of lies. The club already issued a statement yesterday, considering legal action,” Yuste hit back.

“But I want to say that this manoeuvre by Florentino Perez to cover up a sporting disaster that has been going on for two years will get him nowhere,” he added.

Yuste then defended Barcelona’s recent success and highlighted the club’s current sporting project under Hansi Flick.

“It’s pointless to talk about Negreira again when we’ve won two leagues with a project featuring players from La Masia and others who came from elsewhere,” he said.

“We’re winning it by 14 points, and this is just a smokescreen to try and justify poor management. Barça fans are very happy, and nothing will take that away from us.”

The Barça acting president also reacted strongly to Florentino’s suggestion that several league titles had been unfairly won.

Yuste has responded in kind to Perez’s allegations. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

“Seven stolen league titles? That’s completely false. Objectively speaking, it’s not true. He’ll know, we’re going to defend ourselves, we owe it to the fans and the club, and nobody touches the club,” Yuste firmly stated.

He sent another strong message to the Real Madrid president saying: “We are very happy to have won La Liga and to have conquered one of the most difficult leagues in the world two years in a row, but I have to say something to Mr. Florentino.

“If you’ll allow me a bit of irony, Joan Laporta arrives on July 1st, and there’s a Spanish TV series called ‘La que se avecina‘ (The One That’s Coming) which fits the situation.

“We are going to continue fighting to bring more success to this club, so that La Masia is the undisputed cornerstone of our sporting management.”

Regarding Barcelona’s official statement and the possibility of legal action, Yuste confirmed that the matter is already being handled internally.

“There are no updates yet on possible legal action. The matter has been in the hands of the Legal Department since yesterday, and we will share any further developments as they arise,” he said.

“But red lines should never be crossed, and this man has already crossed them.”

Yuste also revealed his personal reaction after watching Florentino’s press conference, saying:

“I watched the press conference afterwards, not live, and it didn’t make me laugh or cry. It made me feel sorry for him.”