The Negreira case is no longer merely a Spanish legal file. It has become a time bomb threatening Barcelona at European level, and inside Real Madrid there is a firm conviction that the hour of European reckoning has arrived.
Spanish newspaper "Mundo Deportivo" report, citing well-informed sources, that Real Madrid are certain UEFA's confirmation of the Negreira file goes beyond a routine move to add fresh papers to a case that has been open since 2023.
The Royal club believe the vast report they submitted on 17 June, running to more than 50,000 pages, has become the missing piece that had stopped UEFA acting over the past two years. The European body now holds all the information it needs to punish the Catalan club, and that, Madrid argue, explains why the file was frozen earlier.
Why is UEFA not closing the file?
According to the sources, European football's governing body has no intention of closing the disciplinary investigation until a final ruling lands in the ongoing Spanish lawsuit. Yet these European disciplinary proceedings are entirely separate and have nothing to do with the course of the Spanish judiciary.
Put simply, Madrid believe the evidence is now enough to trigger UEFA's strict regulations. Those rules clearly allow for punishing any club that takes part, directly or indirectly, in any activity aimed at manipulating or influencing the result of a match at national or international level.
The potential penalty, under UEFA's regulations, could reach exclusion from the Champions League for a full season, plus a huge financial fine.
A grave ethical violation
This does not stop at manipulating results. Real Madrid believe Barcelona's conduct, paying salaries to the vice-president of the Spanish referees' committee for 15 consecutive years, is in itself a grave breach of UEFA's code of ethical conduct.
The white club stress a fundamental legal point. Sporting disciplinary penalties stand entirely separate from criminal proceedings and do not conflict with them. A person can be convicted criminally without facing any sporting consequences, and the reverse is equally true: the criminal case may be dropped for lack of criminal evidence while strong, sufficient grounds remain to act in the sporting sphere. Neither one cancels out the other.
Pending the outcome of the Spanish proceedings, which Real Madrid officially joined as a plaintiff, the Royal club now demand immediate disciplinary action against Barcelona. They are convinced the 50,000-page file justifies it with full force.