Madrid has decided to appear in the trial in which Barça is accused as a legal entity, which has cooled relations between the two clubs and prevented the celebration of the traditional lunch beforehand. In addition, this has heated up the atmosphere in the stands. It is unknown how this situation will affect the relationship between both partners in the Superliga in the more distant future, especially after Joan Laporta has gone hand in hand with Florentino Perez in the project.
The referee for the Clásico has been De Burgos Bengoetxea, though previously the name Hernández Hernández sounded, whom Courtois publicly criticized for some hands he alerted from the VAR in the Champions League. The current Clásico comes at an important time, with three Clásicos in two months, including the Copa del Rey semifinal and La Liga. There was already a similar situation in 2010-2011, when the arrival of José Mourinho to the Madrid bench strained the relationship between the two clubs due to his accusations of favoritism towards Barça. The tension spilled over into the pre- and post-match press conferences, with criticism and sarcastic responses from both sides.
However, Mourinho’s finger in Tito Vilanova’s eye was the turning point to make peace. The rivalry between the two teams has left numerous images of tension in both stadiums, including the welcome given to Luis Figo at the Camp Nou after his move to Real Madrid and the throwing of objects, such as a roast suckling pig, at the match on November 23, 2002.