The Murcian referee José María Sánchez Martínez will be in charge of distributing justice this afternoon (4:15 p.m.) in the Santiago Bernabeu classic between Real Madrid and Barcelona. An experienced referee who will direct his sixth classic, with a balance so far of three wins for the Catalans, for two of the people from Madrid.
Born 39 years ago and an economist by profession, this referee from Lorca (Murcia) is a veteran of Spanish arbitration. He has been in the First Division since 2015 and has been an international since 2017. Before that, he had spent four seasons in the Second Division. He has directed League, Champions, Europa League and Nations League matches.
Sánchez Martínez is one of the most experienced in the Clásicos between Barça and Blancos, whom he already directed in the first Clásico last season, on October 24, 2021, which ended with one of the only two wins for Real Madrid with he in command. In that League match at the Camp Nou, the Madrid team won by 1 goal to 2.
The other victory for the Whites with this official dates back to the first Clásico that Sánchez Martínez whistled back in August 2017, the second leg of the Super Cup at the Santiago Bernabeu, which the Madrid team won after winning by 2 goals to 0.
The other three classics directed by the Murcian referee have all been Barça. The most recent, in the 2019 Copa del Rey, which was sealed with a 3-0 win for Barcelona. They also won the 2017 League classics at the Bernabeu, in which the Catalans won 0-3 in a match in which Carvajal would be sent off for trying to avoid a goal with his hand. Sánchez Martínez would also be the referee on October 5-1, 2018, the first classic with VAR. The video arbitration helped point out a penalty from Varane on Luis Suárez, which would end the duel with a hat-trick.
Throughout his seven seasons in the First Division, José María Sánchez Martínez has directed Real Madrid a total of 23 times and Barça 19, although this season will be the first time he has refereed the azulgranas. On the other hand, he has actually refereed a match for the Madrid team this year, it was the match corresponding to matchday four of the Santander League against Betis, with victory for Ancelotti's team by 2 goals to 1.
The Murcian referee will be assisted on the wings 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.
