Barcelona directors did attend 'The Best' ceremony in Zurich, although the players did not, with the club insisting
that it was due to preparations for their upcoming domestic games.
During his call to Real Madrid's players, Iniesta made it clear that the decision had nothing to do with them and was due to differences with their own club's hierarchy.
However, with or without the apology, the non-attendance by the Blaugrana did not sit well whatsoever with Real Madrid, with the club's directors considering it a betrayal of sorts.
Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos was the least critical of Iniesta, Lionel Messi, Gerard Pique and Luis Suarez not turning up, Luka Modric refused to talk about it and Cristiano Ronaldo pulled a joke about the situation.
At boardroom level, the relationship between the El Clasico rivals was already virtually non-existent, with no real dialogue existing between the clubs.
The Real Madrid hierarchy were also unhappy with Barcelona not attending, with their belief being that any winners and finalists should attend the event.
It wasn't just Los Blancos who were irked by it though with a former Barcelona player voicing his annoyance, with current Juventus defender Dani Alves attending to receive his award for placing in the FIFPro Best XI.
"They've left me alone here with Real Madrid [players]," said the Brazilian. "They should have come."
No comments:
Post a Comment