Laporta's balance with power

BarcelonaThose who know Joan Laporta well assure that he is the best at handling pressure. He can take negotiations to the limit and, where many begin to get nervous, maintain his composure until the last minute. This virtue in the offices has a downside, as he often has to give up some principles or swallow toads to achieve his objectives. In a key week for Barça, where The reopening of the Camp Nou is planned for September. And the ability to register players for the start of La Liga, the club's executive president moves behind the scenes and balances power to get it all. It's what they call "lobbying" in the offices. I give, you give.

The latest example is the facilities Barça provides for the game in Miami. The club's willingness to play the La Liga match against Villarreal is an example of this willingness to build bridges with the major institutions. From a sporting perspective, the match represents no benefit to the Blaugrana entity. Quite the opposite, because it means swapping a trip to La Cerámica for a transoceanic flight with a six-hour time difference in the middle of a very tight schedule. But the management is interested in making the Americas a reality and bringing an important match of the competition to US soil to boost business. It's a dream La Liga has pursued for years and now seems close to becoming a reality. Barça, which ultimately needs the favors of the entity headed by Javier Tebas, has decided to get well.

Barça's reasons for agreeing to play in Miami against Villarreal

Why? Because in the week that the regular season begins, Barça still isn't 1:1 and hasn't registered its summer signings or renewals. It's waiting for the auditor to validate the famous 100 million for the seats. VIP of the future Camp Nou and, also, that the management association approve the report. But that's not the only sticking point, as La Liga officials must also soon conduct a site visit to the stadium and certify that the renovation is sufficiently advanced to allow official matches to be played. So, if La Liga wants to play in Miami, Barça will accept it without complaint, despite the fact that the coaching staff led by Hansi Flick has turned up their nose internally.

For Barça, playing in the US does not represent an extra benefit, because the club is already accustomed to playing preseason matches and has been working for years to export its brand to a country that, thanks to Latin immigration, has more and more fans of what they call there soccer. For Villarreal, however, it is an opportunity to grow. To Fernando Roig, president yellow, wasted no time in accepting the proposal, calling it a "historic milestone" and announcing that season ticket holders – who would be unable to see Barça at the Cerámica – would be compensated either with a free flight to see this match or with a 20% discount on their season ticket.

Real Madrid believes that playing in Miami is "distorting the competition" of La Liga.

However, it's Real Madrid who has been up in arms. Florentino Pérez, the complete opposite of Laporta, remains steadfast in his convictions. One of them is his crusade against Javier Tebas and his way of managing the club: he doesn't agree with being subject to joint regulations and believes his Real Madrid team should be able to operate independently. Therefore, he opposes everything La Liga does. That's why, in a statement issued yesterday, he considered that playing in Miami would "distort the competition" and called on FIFA, UEFA, and the High Council of Sports not to authorize this match.

Madrid's stance represents a further distancing between Florentino and Laporta. The Barça president began his second term willing to do business with his Real Madrid counterpart: from the creation of the Super League to pushing for changes to the sports law and abolishing the need to guarantee or deal with the same partners to obtain financing. But Barça's need to reach agreements with those in power has changed the way things stand.status quo and has put Florentino and his entire entourage on alert. This isn't a new situation, although it increasingly seems that the two figures are further apart.

In these alliances, Barça has also sided with UEFA and its president, Aleksander Ceferin, whom Laporta has praised in recent public statements. The reopening of Camp Nou also depends on UEFA, as the European body's inspectors are scheduled to visit the stadium this August, just a few weeks after conducting an inspection in which they detected numerous deficiencies.

Barça and UEFA once distanced themselves over the Super League, but now the club no longer so fiercely defends the competition that was supposed to replace the Champions League. On the contrary, it is leading negotiations to reach an agreement between the two competitions that, among other factors, would revolutionize the system of revenue received by clubs. Furthermore, the rapprochement between Laporta and Ceferin was also key a few months ago, when Barça was sanctioned with a fine of 60 million for failing to comply with the fair play from UEFA but managed to renegotiate it down to 15 million, forgiving the remaining 45 million if there was no relapse in the next two seasons.