Former Barcelona Official Mocks Atlético Madrid After Copa del Rey Final Loss

Toni Freixa, a former spokesperson for Barcelona and a 2021 presidential candidate, took to X (formerly Twitter) to mock Atlético Madrid following their Copa del Rey final defeat to Real Sociedad. Freixa's post targeted the pitch at La Cartuja Stadium, which hosted the final match. This was a direct response to previous messages published by Atlético Madrid's official account, which had alluded to past complaints from the Catalan club regarding pitch conditions.

The origin of this digital exchange dates back to an earlier post by Atlético Madrid, which stated, "We love the smell of freshly cut grass in the morning." This phrase was widely interpreted as a dig at Barcelona's complaints about the pitch at the Metropolitano Stadium after previous encounters between the two teams. Following Atlético Madrid's loss in the final, which was decided by a penalty shootout, Toni Freixa retorted, "You forgot to tell us what the grass at La Cartuja smells like," in response to the earlier taunts.

Earlier in the season, Atlético Madrid had successfully eliminated Barcelona from both the Copa del Rey and the UEFA Champions League, intensifying the rivalry and media exchanges between figures associated with the two clubs. With Atlético's dream of securing the domestic title in Seville now over, attention has shifted to these verbal sparring matches, which reflect the deep-seated technical disagreements over pitch quality, even after the on-field competitions have concluded.