Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong called out referee Jesús Gil Manzano’s arrogant attitude after the LaLiga leader’s 11-game winning run was ended by Real Sociedad on Sunday.
Mikel Oyarzabal and Gonçalo Guedes scored either side of a Marcus Rashford header as La Real secured a 2-1 win at Anoeta which saw Barça’s advantage at the top of the table over Real Madrid cut to just one point.
Barça were left questioning the decision to rule out a Lamine Yamal strike for offside in the first half, but De Jong — who as captain was the designated player allowed to speak to Gil Manzano — was most angered by the official’s behaviour.
“If it’s given offside, it’s offside,” De Jong told reporters after the game. “I have not seen it, but they have told us it’s not offside.
“But what I want to say is that you can’t even speak to the referee. I don’t understand it at all. And I am the captain.
“I tried to talk to him and he looks at me with a face like he is better than me. It’s very frustrating. You can’t behave like that.”
De Jong also queried the amount of added time played by Gil Manzano, who blew for full time as soon as the nine additional minutes had been played.
“In added time, I was saying to the referee to watch the time, [Sociedad] were taking one minute for throw ins, goal kicks etc, which is normal, of course, but to not add even 10 seconds more seems crazy to me,” the Dutchman added.
“And I said that to the referee and he booked me, so you can’t speak to this referee.”
Barça coach Hansi Flick, who usually refuses to indulge in criticism of referees, backed De Jong’s comments.
“I heard what Frenkie said and he’s right,” Flick said. “But I don’t want to waste energy for this guy. Everyone on the television and in the stadium saw his performance. We have to accept it. It’s like that.”
Asked if he felt Gil Marzano’s approach to officiating was arrogant, he added: “Everyone knows that and I could read comments [about that] before the match. It’s like that.
“I always speak really good about the referees because we have really good referees in LaLiga. But Frenkie is right. But we have to accept it, it’s not nice, but OK.”
On a wet night in San Sebastián, Barça were made to regret missed chances as they saw their 11-game winning run in all competitions come to an end and their lead at the top of LaLiga reduced.
They ended the game with an expected goals (xG) of 3.69, hit the woodwork four times and had three goals rules out — two for offside and one for a foul in the build-up — but all they had to show for their efforts was substitute Rashford’s 70th-minute equaliser.
Oyarzabal had earlier given La Real a first-half lead and Guedes, just a minute after Rashford’s leveller, sealed the victory which kept the home side unbeaten in four games under new American coach Pellegrino Matarazzo.
“What a game. What a game,” Matarazzo said after the game. “Of course, if you want to win against Barcelona, you need to be very active, very intense, connected for 90 minutes and we had a bit of luck on our side today and a fantastic goalkeeper with Alex Ramiro. The heart the players put on the pitch was very special.
“What we did after we conceded the 1-1 is also very special. We immediately went to goal, scored the 2-1. And we defended, with 10 men, with everything we had. It’s not everything you do with your feet, it’s the character we showed that led us to the win.”
Carlos Soler was sent off for the Basque side late on for a high challenge on Pedri, but Barça still could not find a second equaliser.
“I am not happy, I am disappointed because we lost the game, but the way we played football, this is how we want to play,” Flick added, putting a positive spin on the defeat.
“It’s better to have this situation, creating chances and not worrying about how you score goals. We have played good football in the last couple of weeks. We have to keep going like this and not waste energy on things like the referee.
“I said to the team we played good, we were unlucky. We have to accept. Some days are like this, you don’t know how you lose, this is one of those days. We have to focus on the next game now because every three days we play.”
Flick did concede there are areas where his team need to improve ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League trip to Slavia Prague, with the German upset with how the players switched off immediately after levelling.
“We have to defend it better,” he said. “Directly after the 1-1, so we were in a good mood, we played well, and of course this goal kills us.
“We have to defend it in the beginning much better, but also with the cross we have to be there. This is what we have to change, to improve, and we will work on that.”
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