Who is Gil Manzano, referee for the Real Madrid vs Barcelona 2025 Super Cup Clásico final?

Hailing from Extremadura, Gil Manzano has been a leading match official in Spain’s top flight since the 2012/13 season and was added to FIFA’s international list in 2014.

Tonight’s game in Jeddah will be the fourth time the 40-year-old officiates a ‘Clásico’.

He took charge of his first Madrid-Barça clash back in October 2014, when he was appointed to Madrid’s 3-1 LaLiga win over Barça at the Bernabéu.

His second appearance in the fixture came in April 2021, as a late replacement for the injured Antonio Mateu Lahoz. As was the case seven years earlier, he oversaw a home league victory for ‘Los Blancos’, who prevailed 2-1 at the Estadio Alfredo di Stéfano.

His last game in charge of a Madrid-Barça fixture was last season at the Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc for the matchday 11 LaLiga 23-24 clash with Madrid running out winners again this time with a 1-2 scoreline.

Gil Manzano’s Clásico career

Gil Manzano is one of the three Spanish referees in UEFA’s Elite group alongside Sánchez Martínez and Hernández Hernández. The man from Don Benito has refereed 41 Barça matches with a record of 26 wins (63%), seven draws (17%) and eight defeats (20%), 10 red cards (0.24 per match) and 101 yellow cards.

He has refereed Real Madrid 50 times with an overall balance of 39 wins (78%), six draws (12%) and five defeats (10%), five sendings off (0.10) and 93 yellow cards.

In his time overseeing Barcelona games, he has awarded red cards for the likes of Messi, Suárez, Neymar, Piqué, Lewandowski and Dani Alves.

What time does Real Madrid - Barcelona start?

The Super Cup final between Real Madrid - Barcelona will be played on Sunday January 12 at King Abdullah Sport City (Jeddah) with a kick off at 2:00 p.m. ET / 11:00 a.m. PT.

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