Barcelona complain to authorities after Malaga owner and coach suggest they will let Real Madrid win the league
Malaga host Madrid on the final day of the season and some ill-advised comments have incited anger in Catalunya
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Your support makes all the difference.FC Barcelona will make a formal complaint to Spain's footballing authorities after comments by Malaga's coach and owner suggested they won't stand in the way of Real Madrid winning La Liga.
The Costa del Sol club host Madrid on the final day in what could be a decisive fixture for the title, with the top two tied on points after both won on Wednesday night.
But comments from Michel, the Malaga coach, and a tweet from owner Sheikh Abdullah Al-Thani have suggested that the Rosaleda club would prefer Real Madrid to triumph.
Michel, a lifelong Real Madrid fan who played for the club for 14 years and remains friends with Florentino Perez, was asked recently about the time another ex-Madrid player, Jorge Valdano, had coached his team, Tenerife, to a final-day win over the Bernabeu club that handed Barcelona the championship.
"I'm much more of Madrid fan than Valdano was," Michel said, suggesting he wouldn't want to prevent his boyhood team from winning La Liga.
After this caused outrage in Barcelona, fans sent messages to Malaga owner Al-Thani on social media imploring him to make sure his side beat Real Madrid on the final day.
But Al-Thani chose to pour petrol onto the flames by tweeting in response: "the human waste of Catalunya will never smell [the glory] of La Liga."
So strong was his message that FC Barcelona released a statement on Thursday morning, decrying Al-Thani's words and announcing that they will take his words to the authorities.
"FC Barcelona expresses it's rejection and indignation of the content of a tweet published by the president of Malaga CF, Abdullah Al-Thani, with some declarations that assault the very principles of fair play, ethics and legality that must reign over sporting competition.
"For this reason, the club will formally complain to the Anti-Violence Comittee of the Superior Sports Council, and will transfer the matter to the Competition Committee of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, and the Department of Integrity of La Liga."
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