The Murcian referee José María Sánchez Martínez has been appointed by the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) to direct this Sunday's classic, corresponding to the ninth day of the Santander League, which will be played at the Santiago Bernabeu starting at 4:25 p.m. This is the same referee who already whistled the first classic last year at the Bernabeu, with a white victory.
The 39-year-old from Murcia was also the referee of the first classic last year, which ended in a victory for the Whites by 1 goal to 2. It will be the sixth duel between Barcelona and Real Madrid that Sánchez Martínez will direct, who will be helped by the bands by Raúl Cabañero Martínez and Juan José López Mir, the fourth referee will be Jorge Díaz Escudero, in the VAR will be the Canarian Alejandro José Hernández Hernández together with Roberto Díaz Pérez del Palomar.
Despite the latest precedent, the general balance of Sánchez Martínez in the classics is favorable to the azulgranas, who have prevailed in three of the five matches in which they have been directed by the Murcian, by only two white wins.
The first classic of this international referee since 2017, dates back precisely to that year, when he whistled the second leg of the Super Cup at the Bernabeu. It was the first victory for the Whites, who would not win another classic with Sánchez Martínez until last year.
Barça, on the other hand, has prevailed in the rest of the duels. The first, in December 2017. A League match at the Bernabeu that the Catalan team won 0-3 and in which Carvajal was sent off after avoiding a goal with his hand. In October 2018 he would direct his first classic at the Camp Nou, the first also in which there was VAR and in which the video arbitration helped determine a Varane penalty on Suárez. The Uruguayan would score a hat-trick in the team's 5-1 win. In February 2019, the Murcian referee would again whistle a duel between whites and azulgranas, this time in the Copa del Rey, and also with a 3-0 victory for Barça.
