Barca News
The tension over the match between PSG and FC Barcelona in the quarter-finals of the Champions League will not only be experienced on the grass of the Parque de los Prícipes and the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys , and the rivalry between both clubs is going more there.
Joan Laporta and Al-Khelaïfi, top leaders of both teams, have experienced a relationship of maximum tension in recent years, as confirmed by the ‘Barça Reservat’ podcast on Catalunya Ràdio. It all goes back to the tie between Barça and PSG in 2021 in which the Parisians eliminated Barça in the round of 16 of the competition.
In the first leg at the Camp Nou, which ended 1-4 with an exhibition by Mbappé, Al-Khelaïfi starred in a scandal, rebuking UEFA’s top officials in the box of the culé temple with his complaints about the penalty that meant the only so much from Barça that night. Although Laporta was not yet in office, the culé president, who took office before the return, took note.
In Paris, with a match that ended 1-1 on the first trip of Laporta’s second term, the meeting between both presidents did not go well at all . Now, three years later and according to Catalunya Ràdio, one of the presidents had attempted a small approach via WhatsApp to de-escalate the situation , but there has been no response.
The relationship between both clubs, beyond sports, has been very strained for years. Al-Khelaïfi is today one of the great allies in UEFA’s crusade against the Super League, while Joan Laporta, along with Florentino Pérez, is its main promoter.
Furthermore, the Qatari president of PSG does not forgive Barça for its ‘betrayal’ with the sponsorship of the shirt . At the end of 2016 , Barça decided to sign with Rakuten for the next four seasons and leave behind its agreement with Qatar Airways. In the summer of 2017, when the new ‘de facto’ sponsorship began, PSG hit back at the Catalans by paying Neymar’s clause.
Source: Sport
