The referee of the Valencian Committee Antonio Mateu Lahoz will direct the derby between Barcelona and Espanyol next Saturday, the 31st, corresponding to matchday 15 of the First Division, in which he will be accompanied by the Aragonese Santiago Jaime Latre in the VAR.

The international referee, who made headlines during the World Cup in Qatar for his controversial arbitration in the Netherlands-Argentina match, will direct what will be his fourth derby. The first was the league duel of the 2014/15 season at the RCDE Stadium, a game that the Catalans won 2-0 and in which Jordi Alba and Héctor Moreno ended up sent off.

Two years later, in the 2016/17 season, he whistled again in the Camp Nou derby, which ended with a 4-1 victory for Barça. The third time that the Valencian whistled a match between Barça and Espanyol was in the quarterfinals of the Copa del Rey in the 2017/18 season, which also resulted in a 2-0 win by Culé.

The Technical Committee of Referees (CTA) of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) announced on Tuesday the appointments for the matches of that day, with which the competition will resume after the Qatar 2022 World Cup.

Thursday 29-Dec

17.00 Girona-Rayo Vallecano

Referee: Jorge Figueroa Vazquez

VAR: Ignacio Iglesias Villanueva

19.15 Betis-Athletic Club

Referee: Alejandro Hernandez Hernandez

VAR: Xavier Estrada Fernandez

21.30 Atlético de Madrid-Elche

Referee: Guillermo Cuadra Fernandez

VAR: David Medie Jimenez

Friday 30-Dec

17.00 Getafe-Mallorca

Referee: Javier Alberola Rojas

VAR: José Luis González González

19.15 Cádiz-Almería

Referee: Juan Martinez Munuera

VAR: Xavier Estrada Fernandez

19.15 Celta de Vigo-Sevilla

Referee: Ricardo de Burgos Bengoechea

VAR: David Medie Jimenez

21.30 Valladolid-Real Madrid

Referee: José Luis Munuera Montero

VAR: Jesus Gil Manzano

Saturday 31-Dec

14.00 Barcelona-Espanyol

Referee: Antonio Matthew Lahoz

VAR: Santiago Jaime Latre

16.15 Real Sociedad-Osasuna

Referee: Valentin Pizarro Gomez

VAR: José Luis González González

16.15 Villarreal-Valencia

Referee: José María Sánchez Martínez

VAR: Carlos Del Cerro Grande.