Real Madrid moves for massive compensation in ‘Negreira case’ against Barcelona

Real Madrid is considering pursuing a multi-million-dollar payout from Barcelona over the so-called ‘Negreira case.’ The club has already filed urgent legal requests, giving Barcelona just ten days to provide audits, due diligence reports, and invoices detailing its financial movements from 2010 to 2021.

Gone are the days when joint projects and shared initiatives suggested a pragmatic relationship between Real Madrid and Barcelona. While the Catalan club is now in the middle of an election campaign, at the Bernabéu, the message is clear: as Florentino Pérez said at the club’s Assembly of Compromised Members, “We are going all the way.”

Madrid break ties and seek accountability

This determination marks the definitive end of any tacit understanding between the two clubs, which have historically been defined more by rivalry than by recent superficial cordiality. Real Madrid is not stopping at judicial proceedings. Its strategy now includes seeking substantial compensation from Barcelona for damages linked to payments to Negreira. Any sporting penalties fall under UEFA’s Article 4.1. Some clubs are already realizing they may have underestimated the seriousness of what has been revealed.

Questions have emerged over a range of unusual expenses: aloe vera purchases, match and tournament reports compiled before games were played, boxes of supposed reports that never reached coaching staff, and conflicting statements from Barcelona officials regarding the knowledge of Enríquez Negreira, then vice president of the Technical Referees Committee. At the heart of the matter is the fate of €8.4 million (approximately $9.9 million) paid by Barcelona to companies linked to Negreira.

Investigating corruption or mismanagement

With the payment itself established, the unresolved question is whether sports corruption occurred between 2001 and 2018. So far, Real Madrid appears to be the only club actively seeking clarity on whether some actions taken during that period amounted to what many fear: the buying of influence.

Months ago, Real Madrid successfully secured an extension of the investigation until March 1. This was the first step in demonstrating that the club never turned a blind eye to what UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin called “the most serious thing I’ve seen in soccer.” While LaLiga and the Royal Spanish Football Federation have remained largely absent from witness statements, Real Madrid’s lawyers are pressing forward with their growing theory: that the club and Spanish soccer as a whole had their integrity manipulated and the competition distorted by incomprehensible decisions.

Real Madrid demand Barcelona audits and documents

On the morning of December 24, Real Madrid formally requested, via the courts and under a tight ten-day deadline, audits, due diligence reports, and invoices to track Barcelona’s financial activity between 2010 and 2021. The request also includes budgets from 2010 to 2018 detailing payments to companies involved in the case: Dasnil 95, Nilda, Soccercam, Best Norton, Tresep, and Radamento. In total, 625 documents have been requested to trace the path of those funds.

Questioning Laporta

In recent weeks, attorneys grilled Barcelona president Joan Laporta in court, confirming what recent photos and his growing closeness to UEFA president Ceferin, PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, and LaLiga president Javier Tebas had hinted at.

El Clásico rivalry returns to its natural state

Requesting audits and documentation is only the beginning. Real Madrid and Barcelona - or Florentino Pérez and Joan Laporta - are returning to their default positions, viewing each other as adversaries. The Bernabéu leadership has waited for the right moment, and it has now arrived. The investigation, however, looks likely to extend well beyond the March 1 deadline.