Tonight takes place a duel for history. If this is an opportunity for Hansi Flick to win his first trophy with FC Barcelona, on the Merengue side, winning this duel could allow him to move up to the level of the Cules club regarding the number of Spanish Super Cups counting to his prize list (currently 13 titles for Real Madrid and 14 for FC Barcelona).
The match will be refereed by Gil Manzano, a referee known to madridistas. And for good reason, during the 2023-2024 season, last March, Valencia hosted Real Madrid, and while the score was 2-2, Bellingham thought to give his team the advantage after added time.
However, the referee of the match, Gil Manzano, had whistled the end of the match at the same time as the cross had gone for the head of the English number 5 who had scored the goal, thus arousing the incomprehension of the players and the technical staff Madrid.
“Gil Manzano is a good referee”
From then on, Real Madrid players protested against this decision deemed unfair and Bellingham was excluded following vehement protests. In the post-match press conference, Carlo Ancelotti reacted, greatly disappointed by the turn of the match: “It’s something unprecedented. Gil Manzano was wrong. After the action, we were annoyed by Bellingham’s red card because he didn’t utter any insults.”.
The Italian technician apparently does not hold grudges, since he spoke about the choice of the Spanish referee to officiate in this final, in a pre-match press conference: “Gil Manzano is a good referee, with experience. He has refereed many important matches”he indicated.
The spotlight this evening will therefore be on the Spanish official, as well as on the players of the two teams. Also note that Manzano has already refereed three Clasicos in his career, and neither of them ended in a victory for the Blaugrana.
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