"At the centre of the storm was referee Jesus Gil Manzano, whose handling of the match visibly frustrated the Barcelona players. Throughout the contest, the referee's decisions appeared to go against Flick's side at key moments, gradually increasing tension on the pitch. A lot of talking points Marginal offside calls, several fouls that went unpunished, and a heavy challenge by Carlos Soler on Pedri all contributed to a sense of injustice from the visiting side."
"That particular tackle became one of the most controversial moments of the match. Initially ignored on the field, the incident was later reviewed on the VAR monitor and resulted in a red card. While the decision itself followed protocol, the delay and lack of consistency only added fuel to an already heated encounter. Following the final whistle, frustration spilled over as Frenkie de Jong openly expressed his dissatisfaction, pointing not just to the decisions but to the referee's attitude during the match."
Real Sociedad defeated Barcelona 2-1 in a match overshadowed by contentious refereeing choices. Referee Jesus Gil Manzano made several marginal offside calls, left fouls unpunished, and handled a heavy Carlos Soler challenge on Pedri with a delayed VAR review that produced a red card. The inconsistency and delays increased on-pitch tension and provoked visible frustration from Barcelona players, including Frenkie de Jong. The Technical Committee of Referees later judged that Gil Manzano had made wrong real-time calls. Gil Manzano was not assigned matches the following weekend as part of a refereeing policy excluding officials who fail to meet required standards.
Read at Barca Universal
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]