EL CLÁSICO
Who is Jesús Gil Manzano, the referee for Barcelona vs Real Madrid today?
A LaLiga referee since 2012, the 39-year-old Gil Manzano will be taking charge of El Clásico for the third time in his career.
Referee Jesús Gil Manzano will oversee Saturday’s LaLiga clash between Barcelona and Real Madrid, in what is the 39-year-old’s third career Clásico.
Madrid go to Catalonia sitting just one point ahead of third-placed Barça, having dropped to second in the table after Girona’s win over Celta Vigo on Friday.
Watch a live stream of El Clásico on fuboTV, which offers a free trial
What happened in Gil Manzano’s previous Clásicos?
Born in Don Benito, in the western Spanish region of Extremadura, Gil Manzano has been a referee in Spain’s top flight since the 2012/13 season and was added to FIFA’s international list in 2014.
He first took charge of El Clásico 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 Madrid, who triumphed 2-1 at the Estadio Alfredo di Stéfano.
Across his two Clásicos, Gil Manzano has shown 13 yellow cards, with two of those cautions combining for a red. Madrid’s Casemiro was given his marching orders late on two and a half years ago.
In all, Gil Manzano has refereed 36 Barça games, with the Blaugrana winning 22, drawing seven and losing seven. In his 47 matches involving Madrid, Los Merengues have won 37, drawn five and lost five.
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Has sent off more Barça players than any other club
Although Gil Manzano is yet to dismiss a Barcelona player in El Clásico, the Catalans have been on the end of more red cards from the referee than any other club. In total, he has sent Barça players off 10 times in his career: Dani Alves and Clément Lenglet twice each, and Lionel Messi, Luis Suárez, Neymar, Gerard Piqué, Sergi Roberto and Robert Lewandowski once each.
Lewandowski’s sending-off by Gil Manzano last season, in a LaLiga game at Osasuna in November 2022, saw the Pole given an extended, three-match ban after he was deemed to have made a rude gesture at the referee as he left the field.
Gil Manzano also has previous with Barça’s João Félix. While playing for parent club Atlético Madrid in a league clash with Athletic Club in September 2021, the Portuguese earned a second yellow card just seconds after picking up his first, after calling the official “crazy”.
“Of the referees I’ve had, he’s the one that’s angered me the most,” João Félix told an interview with AS earlier this year. “In that game, he really annoyed me.”
Barcelona vs Real Madrid: key match info
Barcelona host Real Madrid at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys today, Saturday 28 October 2023, with kick-off scheduled for 10:15am ET/7:15am PT.
ESPN+ and ESPN Deportes have the US broadcast rights to El Clásico, which you can watch on the online platform fuboTV.
Watch a live stream of El Clásico on fuboTV, which offers a free trial
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