Real Madrid have been accused of resorting to dirty tricks in their attempt to overhaul title rivals Barcelona.
Real fullback Roberto Carlos has been criticised for suggesting that Real Sociedad, Barcelona’s opponents on the last day of the season, will not stand in the way of their Catalan rivals.
“It is complete drivel when they take it for granted that Barca will win their last game here in Anoeta,” Real Sociedad defender Aitor Lopez Rekarte was quoted as saying in sports daily Marca on Wednesday.
“The truth is that given where these declarations come from and the way in which they were said, they don’t even offend me.”
Roberto Carlos had claimed that Barcelona would have few problems in their final game of the season against Sociedad.
“You can forget the last game in San Sebastian,” he said on Tuesday. “Barcelona only have three games really because their fourth against Real Sociedad doesn’t exist.
“The other day when they played us the Real Sociedad fans were cheering ‘Barca, Barca’ during the match and so they’ve already got that match in the bag.
“I don’t count that game after what I saw on Saturday. Sociedad won’t play as hard against Barcelona as they did against us. Everyone wants to beat Real Madrid, everyone wants to beat the best team in the world.”
Referee Eduardo Iturralde Gonzalez, who will referee Real’s next league game against Racing Santander, said he was appalled by the way the club had criticised colleague Bernadino Gonzalez Vazquez for his refereering of the Real-Villarreal.
“A week ago the same page accused a colleague of committing seven capital sins and of being a Barcelona fan,” said Iturralde Gonzalez.
“Maybe now they are trying to clean up their image, but I prefer these compliments after the game not before.
“Each person tries to use the weapons at their disposal and this is the one they (Real) are trying to use at the moment … I’m very annoyed as it seems that the only people that make mistakes are the referees.
“This campaign is being directed, but these sort of things can generate violence.”
Barcelona have a six-point lead over Real Madrid at the top of the table with four matches left to play.
