President of La Liga, Javier Tebas, has never been afraid to voice his opinions to the media and once again discussed issues pertaining to the league’s top teams.

Speaking to the Portuguese media ‘A Bola’ (h/t AS), Tebas contrasted Barcelona’s aggressive approach to salary limits with Real Madrid’s cautious financial management.

Tebas emphasized that Real Madrid were simply better equipped to handle crises because of their caution in affluent times, in contrast to Barcelona, who are struggling with the pandemic’s aftermath.

“Barcelona has always had the habit of going to the maximum salary limit imposed by La Liga. The pandemic arrived, income fell drastically, which did not happen with salaries, and the contracts were for several years due to the issue of amortization.

“The consequence was that the charges were not adapted to the reduction in income. Other clubs, yes, managed to do it; Real Madrid, for example, never reached the limit they could reach; they were more cautious, and that gave them room to, when the crisis arrived, be able to control the situation,” he exclaimed.

When asked if the departures of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo had an adverse effect on La Liga, Tebas claimed their exits did not cause any harm, but the league’s growth would have surely been exponential with their presence.

He added that one of the reasons for their growth is the existence of top players in La Liga, with Tebas referring to Jude Bellingham as the world’s best player.

Furthermore, the president alluded to the idea of Kylian Mbappe joining Real Madrid next summer after the Frenchman announced he would leave PSG at the end of the season as a free agent.

“They didn’t cause any damage because we didn’t shrink, but with them, we would surely have grown faster. The French league with Messi, Neymar, and Mbappé did not grow; Cristiano Ronaldo went to Italy, and the international income of the Italian league did not increase; ours did, although we lost them both.

“The reason is that for both sponsors and audiovisual media, what matters most to them is that the competition is economically sustainable, that seven years later it continues to be very competitive, and that there are always very good players in Spain.

“This year we have the best in the world, which is Bellingham; last season Lewandowski was at a great level; Atlético has Griezmann; if Mbappé comes, that will help us be more competitive and grow even faster,” he claimed.

Touching on the sensitive matter of racism and homophobia, Tebas condemned the racist remarks hurled at Vinicius.

“When this happens, we use all means to identify who did it and report it to the courts. Spanish football is not racist; some people go to football who are racist, and we don’t want them in the stadiums.

“There would be racism if in the 380 League matches each year, in 200 of them, chants with racist content were heard, and that does not happen; football cannot be insulted because of skin color, political preference, or sexual inclination,” he said.

Adding that he seeks to create a safe and inclusive environment in stadiums, Tebas stated: “In La Liga we fight against homophobia, and this year we have already made several complaints against homophobic attitudes within the stadiums.

“We seek to create a safe environment, without hate, where everyone can freely make the decision that seems most convenient to them, a space where, if one day the player decides to reveal their sexual inclination, they do not allow themselves to be insulted by something that has nothing to do with football.“