BARCELONA’S STARS LEFT ‘SURPRISED’ BY REAL MADRID PRESIDENT FLORENTINO PÉREZ PRE-CLÁSICO

An insight into the reaction on the part of Barcelona’s players to the actions of Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez ahead of the meeting between the two clubs over the weekend has been forthcoming online.

The info comes courtesy of Mundo Deportivo, and points towards Xavi’s squad as having been ‘surprised’ by Pérez..

Why? The Spanish patron’s interactions with the officiating team in charge of El Clásico.

Pérez, for his part, made his way to the Santiago Bernabéu tunnel ahead of kick-off on Sunday evening, to send a message of good luck to Carlo Ancelotti’s stars.

However, this was not his sole intention.

In addition, the 77-year-old, accompanied by former La Liga referee Carlos Megía Dávila, sought out César Soto Grato and his team of officials, for a brief discussion.

Amid the recent controversy surrounding Real Madrid TV, who just last week piled the pressure on Soto Grato in taking aim at the referee for his decision-making, Barcelona’s players found such actions on the part of Pérez to be altogether ‘surprising’:

‘It was surprising that in the context of Real Madrid TV putting maximum pressure on the referees, the white president was in the locker room tunnel just before a decisive Clásico for the League’, it is claimed.

This of course came mere hours before Barcelona were left nothing short of livid with the standard of officiating on show at the Bernabéu.