[Pat Murphy]

Were Real Madrid Players Paid To Help Relegate Zaragoza?

Reports in Spain seem to suggest that Los Blancos players were given bonus payments for a good result against Real Zaragoza on the last day of the season.

Real Madrid had their last training session on Friday night and all the players will be heading off on their holidays all the more better off financially.

The players each received €360.000 for finishing La Liga as champions and they were awarded a further €20,000 following their 2-2 draw against Real Zaragoza -a result which went towards helping relegate the Blanquiazul.

The extra payment was a premium and Mundo Deportivo claim that a Real Madrid club source revealed that the players were offered the extra money if they got a good result against Zaragoza.

The Romareda based club were fighting for relegation and it was a do or die game against Los Merengues. Although several Real Madrid stars were rested by Schuster, Real came away from the game with a decent result which meant Zaragoza had to win their last game. They failed to do this and were relegated.

Reports in Spain seem to suggest that Los Merengues offered the bonus payments to ensure the result against the Romareda side would ensure their relegation because at the time, Real were already champions and for them it was a dead rubber game.

Salvatore Landolina - Goal.com