Jesús Gil Manzano was once again singled out after his lamentable performance in the final of the Supercup of Spain 2025. The referee overlooked two red cards for Eduardo Camavinga and Vinicius Jr., as well as other questionable decisions that, fortunately, were not decisive in the match result (2-5 in favor of FC Barcelona). However, Antonio Mateu Lahoz did not hesitate to tear into the referee from Don Benito for his work during the Classic played in Jeddah.
The former Spanish referee criticized his colleague on the program 'The Day After' on 'Movistar +', where he stated that the Extremaduran referee is usually characterized by delaying decision-making, but not noticing the expulsions of Camavinga and Vinicius "was very hard to watch". Lahoz also pointed out the delay in reviewing the foul that caused the expulsion of Wojciech Szczesny, who ultimately only received a one-match ban.
"The fact that you also have the VAR option to help you and that you take so long to decide and are unable to anticipate so much, also worries you. The refereeing team of the Supercup of Spain had 8 people with over 200 years of refereeing experience, I'm not exaggerating," argued the current commentator for 'Movistar+', who retired from professional refereeing in 2023.
Mateu Lahoz, incredulous about the spared red card for Camavinga
Of Gil Manzano's mistakes, the one that caused the most astonishment for the retired referee was not sending off Camavinga for his grab on Lamine Yamal. "It's another ABC of refereeing, he never looks at the ball", he said while comparing the play to Vinicius' stomp on Koundé. In that case, Antonio Mateu left room for doubt, since although the Brazilian risks it by contesting the ball in that manner while being booked, "live it seemed to me that there was no excessive force and then you see the camera and you can get confused".
On the other hand, Lahoz criticized the new custom of awards in RFEF and UEFA tournaments, where referees are part of the final ceremony, prior to the medal and trophy presentation. For the former Spanish referee, officials should show more humility and self-criticism. "We can never get on our high horse. Referees should never get on the champions' podium, please", pointed out the one from Valencia.