Former Barca president expects Perez to fight

Former Barcelona president Joan Gaspart believes Real Madrid president Florentino Perez will keep fighting to make his club the most successful in Spain despite Barca’s incredible dominance in recent times.

Real Madrid have won just one La Liga title since 2008, while Barcelona have won five of the last seven and Atletico Madrid winning the other.

In that time, they also won their 10th Champions League title, completing the famous La Decima under Carlo Ancelotti.

This season, Madrid languish in third in the La Liga title race, 12 points behind leaders Barcelona, but remain in the Champions League having cruised past Roma to book their spot in the quarter finals.

Despite the club’s fall from grace as the top dog in Spanish football, Gaspart believes Perez has the tools to re-establish Madrid as the biggest force in Spain, even if he has little sympathy for the club’s current plight.

“I do not have any sympathy…but he is a very smart, very talented guy,” Gaspart told Ona Esportiva.

“He’s a very good person and has a good eye. He will not throw in the towel so easily.

“Florentino has won a few leagues, Champions League and Copa del Rey, including some against Barca.”

Gaspart also discussed the possibility of renaming Barca’s famous home ground the Camp Nou after Argentine star Lionel Messi.

“With all due respect to Messi, I would not change the name of the stadium for his. Camp Nou is a well-established name.

“Leo will be history of Barca, an important story, but the club has much more history than Leo Messi. Barca is much more important as a club.

“I personally would not change the name of the stadium because names come and go. What happens if later someone better shows up? Would we change the name again?”