Real Madrid Entangles Barcelona in "Ceuta Shirts" Debate, Drawing Sharp Catalan Response

Real Madrid's defense of players Vinicius Junior, Mbappé, and Konaté, who hid the "We are all Ceuta" message on their shirts before the Elche match, wasn't enough. The royal club instead dragged Barcelona into the controversy's core, justifying its stance and mitigating the dispute. "Sport" revealed Real Madrid, in close media communications, referenced Barcelona's prior refusal to wear the same shirt during its Levante match. The royal club questioned why Barcelona faced no similar criticism, implying blame for players' actions shouldn't fall solely on Real Madrid. "Sport" viewed this comparison as an implicit accusation against Barcelona. Real Madrid tried to equate Barcelona's institutional rejection of the initiative with three players' individual action of hiding the message. The newspaper clarified both situations are fundamentally different; Barcelona's decision was institutional non-participation, while Real Madrid's involved individual player actions. "Sport" highlighted Real Madrid's use of "and no one said anything," asserting the royal club invoked Barcelona's position to defend itself amid criticism for Mbappé, Vinicius, and Konaté. Consequently, the controversy isn't confined to Real Madrid players' stance on the Ceuta message. It expanded into a new dispute with Barcelona, as the royal club framed its rival's position to justify the Elche match events. "Sport" believes summoning Barcelona to defend Real Madrid opens a new debate chapter, especially as the primary discussion initially focused on three players' actions concealing the shirt message before the game. This follows a similar incident involving Real Betis star, Moroccan Abdessamad Ezzalzouli, who wore a Ceuta support shirt before his team's Villarreal match Monday. Ezzalzouli then faced widespread criticism and insults from many Moroccans. Responding to criticisms, Ezzalzouli clarified via Instagram: "Firstly, I want to make one thing clear: at no point was the shirt referring to the city of Ceuta used for a political purpose or with the intention of disrespecting my people, the Moroccan people." He added: "This shirt had a social character, in support of residents and people of a region who were living in a difficult situation, regardless of their nationality." He concluded: "But at the same time, this is not an apology to anyone, and whoever wishes to exploit this matter to question my love for my country is free to do so. As for me, I will continue to live every day with my head held high, and I will continue to represent my roots with pride and sacrifice."