Uefa have announced that it will be launching an investigation into claims Barcelona bribed referees into making favourable decisions.
A Barcelona court agreed to take on the case last week over alleged payments of €7.3 million ($7.95 million) from 2001 to 2018 made to Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira and his Dasnil 95 company.
Negreira was vice-president of the Spanish Football Association's refereeing committee from 1993 to 2018.
Prosecutors in Spain have formally accused Barcelona of corruption, fraudulent management and falsification of business documents. An investigating judge will decide if this will lead to charges.
Charges were filed earlier this month against the club, Negreira and two former Barcelona presidents, Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu, among others.
Now football's European governing body has announced it will also be investigating the claims.
A statement on Thursday read: “In accordance with article 31(4) of the UEFA disciplinary regulations, Uefa ethics and disciplinary inspectors have today been appointed to conduct an investigation regarding a potential violation of Uefa's legal framework by FC Barcelona in connection with the so-called 'Caso Negreira'.”
Champions League regulations in effect since April 2007 allow for clubs to be removed from European competitions if they were involved in fixing matches. Further disciplinary sanctions can follow.
No evidence has yet been published that referees or individual games were actually influenced.
Barcelona 2 Real Madrid 1: Player ratings
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BARCELONA PLAYER RATINGS: Marc-Andre Ter Stegen – 7. Saved from Benzema in front of the huge 95,745 crowd, the biggest in the world this season. Got down to save again from Benzema on 79. Prevented Madrid getting the win they needed. AFP -
Ronald Araujo – 7. Played right-back to deal with the speed of Vinicius. Struggled with it and inadvertently headed the ball from the Brazilian into his own goal after eight minutes. Involved in the equaliser. Blocked an 85th minute Madrid attack. AFP -
Andreas Christensen – 7. Barely gave the ball away, even when he started to play long balls rather than pass out from the back as Barcelona usually do. Big win in a big – and impressive – first season for the Catalans. AP -
Jules Kounde – 8. Top defending. Cut out a dangerous Madrid attack on the hour – a big recovery. Celebrated like his side had won the league at the end, which, given their 12-point lead, they all but have. AFP -
Alejandro Balde – 7. Well organised and mature beyond his years but struggled with making his attacks against a top-level rival. Best moment was the vital cross to set up a 90th minute winner for Kessie. Booked. AFP -
Sergi Roberto – 8. The Catalan was picked above Kessie as the replacement for the injured Pedri. Smashed an early shot over the bar but equalised a minute before half time when he side-footed past Courtois. Booked. Scored four goals in 17 league appearances this season - as in his previous four seasons. Man of the match. AP -
Sergio Busquets – 8. Excellent defending. Poor pass let Rodrygo go for a shot on 62 minutes but kept the midfield discipline despite moments of Madrid play. “You can never say it’s over with 12 games to play, but we’re 12 points clear and that’s going to be hard for Madrid,” said his fellow midfielder Roberto. EPA -
Frenkie De Jong – 8. Set up Raphinha in the movement that led to the equaliser. His through balls between the Madrid lines were a threat. Best midfielder on the pitch. AP -
Gavi – 8. His usual will to win saw him charge back to try and stop the attack which led to Madrid’s second. It didn’t work. But the offside flag was in Barca’s favour to keep it 1-1. Picked out Lewandowski in an 87th minute attack, but it broke down. AFP -
Raphinha – 9. Powerful header saved by Courtois inside five minutes, then cut in from the right and saw a shot tipped over on 34. Booked for a 32nd minute tackle on Kroos. Barca’s best attacker and gave Nacho a difficult time. AFP -
Robert Lewandowski – 6. Rifled a shot from 20 yards after eight minutes. Worked hard chasing the ball, shot wide on 58 and volleyed over on 66 as the Catalans pushed to take the lead. Back heel to Balde led to the winning goal. AFP -
SUBS: Franck Kessie (Roberto 76’) – 8. Tried to run into the box. Scored his first Barcelona goal in the 90th minute, to send his side 12 points clear. The stuff dreams are made of. AP -
Ferran Torres (Raphinha 82’) – N/A. Bit part. Getty -
Ansu Fati (Gavi 90’) – N/A. First touch was in the Madrid box but Carvajal pushed him off the ball. Ceballos tried to kick him and was booked. As was Fati. AFP -
REAL MADRID PLAYER RATINGS: Thibaut Courtois – 7. Made a string of world-class saves and proved why he’s one of the best in the business in his position. AFP -
Nacho – 6. The defender was vocal and had good focus under pressure with some solid interceptions. Getty -
Antonio Rudiger – 5. German centre-back was confident at both ends of the pitch and had a nice aerial presence but shouldn’t leave so many gaps. EPA -
Eder Militao – 4. Looked off the pace whenever Lewandowski was putting pressure on him, especially for the winning goal. AFP -
Dani Carvajal – 5. Left more than a few openings on the inside despite his overlapping runs. Getty -
Toni Kroos – 5. Despite sitting deep, Kroos came across as quite lazy and lethargic when he was off the ball. AP -
Eduardo Camavinga – 7. Played a role in Real’s only goal, had solid positioning and pressure, and linked up with those around him nicely. EPA -
Luka Modric – 7. The Croatian’s wonderful vision paid off on more than one occasion, but he was left with a lot to do on his own in midfield. AP -
Vinicius Junior – 7. Showed wonderful ingenuity for the opening goal but needed some extra help when getting to the byline. Reuters -
Karim Benzema – 5. Went missing far too often despite some good pressure in the first half hour. AFP -
Federico Valverde – 4. While his movement was good, he needs some better link up play and improved finishing at every turn. AP -
SUBS: Ferland Mendy (Nacho 62') – 6. Got into good positions in the final third but should’ve stuck to his man for what proved to be the winner. EPA -
Rodrygo (Kroos 62') – 6. Showed solid physicality but didn’t do too much to influence the result of the game. Getty -
Aurelien Tchouameni (Camavinga 76') – N/A. Looked comfortable on the ball and was incredibly forward-pressing after coming on. AP -
Marco Asensio (Valverde 76') – N/A. Scored with what was essentially his first touch, only for it to be ruled out due to a narrow offside. AFP -
Dani Ceballos (Modric 76') – N/A. Looked slightly off the pace in what proved to be a brief cameo for the midfielder. EPA
Barca have previously denied wrongdoing. A statement said they had paid an external consultant for “technical reports related to professional refereeing”, arguing it was common practice in the game.
Current president Joan Laporta said: “Barca have never bought referees nor influence. That was never the intention and that has to be clear. The facts contradict those that are trying to tell a different story.”
La Liga chief executive Javier Tebas has said that Laporta should resign if he was unable to explain the payments, while rivals Real Madrid have confirmed they will appear in the case as an “injured party” to defend their interests.
In previous cases of suspected match-fixing, clubs including Fenerbahce, Metalist Kharkiv and Skenderbeu were banned from Uefa competitions in decisions that were upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Fenerbahce were withdrawn from the 2011-12 Champions League by the Turkish football federation, seemingly under pressure from Uefa, after being implicated in manipulating games to help secure the previous season's league domestic title. The club was later banned for two more seasons.
Former Albanian champions Skenderbeu are serving a 10-year ban after a Uefa investigation into match-fixing for betting scams, including Champions League qualifying games and Europa League group games.
Barcelona are currently 12 points clear at the top of the La Liag after last weekend's clasico win over Real Madrid, But they have been knocked out of both the Champions League and Europa League this season.
