La Liga president Javier Tebas has said he understands why Real Madrid will not form a guard of honour for Barcelona in next month’s Clasico.
Since Athletic Bilbao honoured Atletico Madrid in 1970, teams have acknowledged the achievement of the Liga winners with a pasillo — two lines of players welcoming the champions onto the pitch.
But Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said his side would not do so at the Camp Nou on May 6, by which time Barca are expected to have secured the title.
Tebas told AS: “I would have liked for the tradition to have been maintained.
“But if it’s to humiliate a rival, I don’t like it. I prefer it to be left to one side for some time until we return to having common sense.
“It’s a decision by the clubs. But what I sense is that it’s not a homage to the champions but rather, especially with Barca and Madrid, a humiliation.”
Zidane was annoyed when Barca decided against the gesture at the Bernabeu in December following Madrid’s Club World Cup win, saying they had “broken the tradition.”
Barcelona said they would only do a pasillo in the same tournament as the current champion.
The most recent pasillo between the two rivals dates back to 2007-08 at the Camp Nou, when Barca honoured a Madrid side who had won the title the previous weekend.
Madrid had done the same when, on June 8, 1991, Barcelona arrived at the Bernabeu as champions.
Barca are 11 points clear of nearest rivals Atletico Madrid at the top of La Liga, with six games remaining.
Adriana Garcia is a Valencia-based football writer who covers La Liga for ESPN FC.
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