And the hot potato is for... Jesús Gil Manzano. The referee from Extremadura will be in charge of directing Saturday's match in Montjuïc between Barça and the. In a climate of pressure on the referees, especially from the white team, Gil Manzano will whistle his third classic. In the previous two, the Madrid team won. It is possible that Real Madrid Televisión will also dedicate a critical video to him, as they have done with many of the referees who have refereed their team in recent times emphasizing alleged mistakes. You may be reminded that once, at Mestalla, he pointed out three penalties against Madrid, all three converted by Carlos Soler in a 4-1 win for Valencia. But the truth is that Barcelona has had many more controversial episodes with the winger than the footballers now led by an Ancelotti who has also put pressure on the refereeing team in recent days.
Gil Manzano, who will have Cuadra Fernández on VAR on Saturday, has distinguished himself as a referee who has not hesitated to send off the stars of the Blaugrana team. In his history, he shows 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 sent him off last season in Pamplona for a double yellow. The striker's reaction by touching his nose was sanctioned by the Competition with three matches. He also showed Pique the red that day. The centre-back, who was saying goodbye to football, was on the bench and at half-time he turned to Gil Manzano to tell him that he was the referee who had "screwed" the Barcelona players the most. According to the minutes, Piqué added: "It's a shame, I shit on your mother whore".
In the global balance of matches led by the winger, Madrid also comes out with better results. He has refereed 47 games for the Whites, with 37 wins, 5 draws and 5 defeats for the Madrid players. 36 are the occasions on which he has crossed paths with the Blaugrana, with 22 triumphs, 7 draws and 7 defeats for the Barcelona players.
With a long career in Primera, Gil Manzano was also once reproached by the manager of Vila-real, Fernando Roig, for the fact that after a match at La Ceràmica the referee left the stadium with some bags with shield of Real Madrid. It had not been a quiet game and the traditional courtesy gifts that some clubs give to referees came into play.
Energetic and without hesitation when it comes to showing cards, Gil Manzano has directed only 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 white triumph, in this case by 2-1. In that match he had to replace the initially appointed Mateu Lahoz, who was injured.
Like other contemporary referees, Gil Manzano also appears in the Barcelona reports given to the judge for the Negreira case. According to the summary, in May 2016, before a Barça-Espanyol game, the following comment was included in the reports: "The referee with the most projection in Spanish football. It is important to take good care of the club's relationship with him because of his great level and youth. He will referee important matches for many seasons. It has a clean, aesthetic style and away from authoritarian gestures". The passing of the years has shown that it is not the referee with whom Barça has achieved the most encouraging results.
