This Friday’s sports press is dominated by two major talking points.
On the one hand, the huge political and transfer turmoil at Real Madrid sparked by the exchange of statements between president Florentino Pérez and presidential hopeful Enrique Riquelme.
On the other, the lukewarm impression left by the Spanish men’s national team in their warm-up friendly against Iraq, drawing level (1-1) just before heading to the United States.
Real Madrid is on fire
Real Madrid’s institutional and transfer scene dominates the front pages of Madrid-based newspapers MARCA and AS, unleashing what Mundo Deportivo describes in its lower section as a genuine “Mess in Madrid”.
Enrique Riquelme raises the stakes with Haaland. In AS, the candidate for the Madrid presidency takes over the front page entirely under the headline “Haaland does have a release clause”. He also takes a direct swipe at the current governance model, saying that “with the change to the statutes, the little democracy left at Madrid would be over”.
MARCA leads in giant format with the current president’s counterattack: “Florentino announces Dumfries and will make a 150-million offer for a star”. According to the paper, Florentino’s response came on the program ‘Horizonte’ after Riquelme’s earlier announcements, promising that “we will make the biggest offer Madrid has ever made for a player”.
Spain stumbles against Iraq
On the pitch, it was Luis de la Fuente’s Spain side, who drew 1-1 against Iraq in a match that has raised plenty of doubts ahead of the imminent 2026 World Cup. The Spanish squad travels today to the United States to set up camp in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
SPORT devotes its entire front page to the FC Barcelona forward with the headline “Ferran and little else”. It highlights that the Valencia-born player showed he arrived “in form” by scoring La Roja’s only goal, in a match where young Marc Bernal made his debut. However, it criticizes the carousel of substitutions in the second half, saying it “switched off a recognizable but sluggish side in attack that lacked match sharpness”.
Barça’s market is completely on fire
The front pages of the Catalan press promise a turbulent summer transfer market, revealing an open boardroom war between FC Barcelona and Atlético de Madrid.
Battle for Bernardo Silva and Cucurella. Mundo Deportivo leads with the big headline “SUPERDUEL”, showing Bernardo Silva (Manchester City) and Marc Cucurella (Chelsea) between a Barça player and an Atlético player. The paper says the conflict of interests between the two clubs “is escalating in a red-hot market”.
After anger in Atlético circles over the Julián Álvarez issue, both clubs are now going all out for the same transfer targets. The Julián Álvarez case
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.
