It appears that Real Madrid are not the only Spanish powerhouse in trouble at present. Barcelona were yesterday found guilty of breaking certain conditions in their agreement with pay TV company, Sogecable.

The contract had stipulated that Barça were to hand their income derived from all international sporting competitions from the 2003/04 to the 2007/08 season, including football, basketball and even handball, to Sogecable in exchange for a fixed amount of compensation.

The Catalan giants had argued that it was their understanding that they only had to shell out money earned from UEFA television rights, and not from other advertising and image rights.

The courts were in favour of the media group and have ordered Barcelona to pay €49.3 million in compensation plus 16% tax, which will bring the total to €57.2 million.

Barça, however, have confirmed that they have accepted and will uphold the verdict but president, Joan Laporta, is unperturbed by the hefty sum.

“Telefónica currently owes Barcelona €30 million while the other €30 million will be covered by TV3 [local Catalan TV station], reason why this will not impact on our liquid capital,” he assured.

KS Leong, Goal.com

Simao, the Portuguese international who has been the spark in so many games lately, declared that sacking the coach is not the right to do and the fans must get behind the team.

“We are not deceiving anyone, we want the fans to go home happy with what they have seen, and we work for that, but they have a right to show their unhappiness. At the moment though, the best thing they can do is to be by our side, and support us, because that matters to us, and we are the first ones that want to win,” he told Marca.

“In this team, when we win, we all win, and when we lose, we all lose. I have been in many teams, with many coaches, and sacking the coach is not the best solution, he is important to the project and the club.

“What I want to tell the fans is that we will keep on working and fighting to return to the form of December, to the team that played well, with that good run of form and with quality, goals, defending, and movement.”

In that sense, Simao believes that the good thing about football is that everything can change in one game, and that they can fight back soon.

“Against Barcelona in the Copa Del Rey we are not going to lay down, a team such as Atlético is not going to give up beforehand. Then we play two games away from home, and we want to win them to arrive back at the Calderón with the fans on our side,” he boomed.

Athletic Agony

Despite the optimism from Simao though, he knows that Atlético needed to beat Athletic Bilbao at the weekend, especially if they are to reach their goals of finishing in the top four.

“We want to continue fighting for the Champions League spots, and we know that against Athletic we needed to win, as with that we would have had three points more,” he mused.

“However, we already must think about our next match and be united and continue to work. We know the team has quality and the squad to be in the upper positions, but in the last three matches we have not been able to do much, but that is not to say we have forgotten how to play.”

One of the problems at the club recently has not just been the on the pitch events, but also off the pitch, where players have criticised the attitude of the team.

Two players who came in for particular criticism from the fans after the most recent game were Maniche, who was sent off, and Giourkas Seitaridis. Not only did Simao defend the players though but he also defended the solidarity and unity of the side.

“We do not think about how a team-mate is working, Maniche has spoken about it and it has happened, and nothing can be done. As for Seitaridis, that is only one opinion, everyone is entitled to one,” he said.

“The players like to speak on the pitch and that is where we should do it. The team does not lack solidarity, but sometimes we do not realise what we have to do.

“We have played three games badly, losing all three, and now is the time to raise our heads and play with happiness. We cannot have so many ups and downs because we want to be at the top and we will show that.”

James Walker-Roberts, Goal.com