How recent Madrid-Barca rift ignites rivalry before Clásico - ESPN
Florentino Perez will not be going to the Clásico in Barcelona on Saturday. This time there will be no visiting president in the directors' box alongside all the usual suspects, from former players and footballing figures to bankers, businessmen and politicians. Joan Laporta, the Barcelona president, will have to find someone else to sit next to him. Unless he's got an inflatable Perez he can use? There will be no formal prematch meal, not this time — and you know it's serious when someone cancels lunch.


