The first Madrid meeting since Joan Laporta returned as Barça president could be Lionel Messi’s final outing in the fixture
Hello again. If there was a moment in which Joan Laporta’s return to the presidency of Barcelona started to feel real, it was probably the morning of 15 December when a giant banner was put up that covered the facade of a 15-floor building within view of the Santiago Bernabéu. On it was a picture of the candidate smiling, a familiar glint in his eye, and the slogan: “Looking forward to seeing you again.” On Saturday, for the first time in more than a decade, he will.
The idea came from Laporta’s campaign manager Lluis Carrasco. Initially the slogan was going to say: “A great team needs a great rival.” But Laporta suggested something a bit more, well, Laporta: optimistic, bold, unashamedly anti-Madridista and playfully provocative. No complex about his club or Catalan nationalism either, the significance of that particularly seen in the reaction of some in the Spanish capital, which could only make his supporters love him more.
