And the hot potato goes to… Jesús Gil Manzano. The Extremaduran referee will be in charge of directing the match on Saturday in Montjuïc between Barça and Real Madrid. In the midst of a climate of pressure on the referees, especially from the white team, Gil Manzano will whistle his third classic. In the previous two, victory for the Madrid team. It is possible that Real Madrid Television will also dedicate a critical video to him, as it has done with many of the referees who have refereed his team in recent times, emphasizing alleged errors. They may remind him that once, at Mestalla, he awarded three penalties against Madrid, all three converted by Carlos Soler in a 4-1 Valencian victory. But the truth is that Barcelona has had many more controversial episodes with the Extremaduran than the players now led by Ancelotti, who has also put pressure on the referee team in recent days.
Gil Manzano, who will have Cuadra Fernández on the VAR on Saturday, has distinguished himself for being a referee who has not hesitated to expel the stars of the Blaugrana team. In his history it appears that he has shown the red to Neymar, Luis Suárez, Messi (the only one as a Barcelona player, in the Super Cup), Piqué and Lewandowski. The Pole was sent off last season in Pamplona for a double yellow. The striker's reaction by touching his nose was sanctioned by Competition for three games. He also showed the red to Piqué that day. The centre-back, who was saying goodbye to football, was on the bench and at half-time he addressed Gil Manzano telling him that he was the referee who had "fucked up" the Barcelona fans the most. According to the minutes, Piqué added: “she is a fucking shame, I shit on your fucking mother.”
In the overall balance of games led by the winger, Madrid also comes out with better results. He has whistled for the whites 47 times, with 37 wins, five draws and five defeats for the Madridistas. There are 36 occasions in which he has crossed paths with the Blaugrana, with 22 wins, seven draws and seven defeats for the Barcelona fans.
With a long career in the First Division, Gil Manzano was also upset on one occasion by Villarreal manager Fernando Roig by the fact that after a match at La Ceràmica the referee left the stadium with some bags with the Real Madrid crest on them. It had not been a calm match and the traditional courtesy gifts that some clubs give to referees came up.
Energetic and without hesitation when it comes to showing cards, Gil Manzano has only directed two classics, both on white ground. The first, in 2014 with a 3-1 victory for the locals, and the second, in Valdebebas in 2021, also with a white victory, in this case 2-1. In that match he had to replace the initially designated Mateu Lahoz, who was absent due to injury.
Like other contemporary referees, Gil Manzano also appears in the Barcelona reports delivered to the judge for the Negreira case. According to the summary, in May 2016, before a Barça-Espanyol match, the reports included the following comment: “The referee with the greatest projection in Spanish football. It is important to take great care of the club's relationship with him due to his high level and youth. He will referee important games for many seasons. He has a clean, aesthetic style that is far from authoritarian gestures.” The passage of years has taught us that he is not the referee with whom Barça has achieved the most promising results.
