A public war: Real Madrid changes its institutional policy

Tensions are rising within Real Madrid following their defeat in the Spanish capital derby against neighbours Atletico, by a scoreline of 1-2.

According to "Mundo Deportivo", the communications department at Los Blancos has done the opposite of keeping quiet during the international break. Rather than address the sporting problems dogging the team, it has launched an open war on the media outlets it considers "enemies".

This time the target is Juanma Castano, presenter of El Partidazo on Cope radio. Los Merengues issued him an official criticism last Tuesday over his comparison between the Real Madrid channel and the outlet "Jara" in a press article. Castano later apologised publicly for it.

Yesterday, Thursday, the club went after him again. This time it used its social media accounts, followed by around 230 million people across X and Instagram, posting a video clip that raked over a string of controversies linked to the journalist in recent years.

Castano had apologised for the comparison, yet he refused to budge on his stance towards the Real Madrid channel. He insisted he would stick to his opinion until the channel changed its way of working.

None of this is new. It has been going on for a long time under the presidency of Florentino Perez. What has shifted is the venue: the fight has spilled beyond the private exchanges of old and gone entirely public, out in the open for everyone to see.

The club's official account on X, followed by 49.5 million people, published a report from the Real Madrid channel reviewing every contentious issue tied to Castano.

The discontent inside Real Madrid over what the media publishes about them is now plain to see. So the club has decided to attack. Everyone tasked with reporting on the club and commenting on it now falls under the microscope.