The Royal Spanish Football Federation has officially announced who will be in charge of officiating the match between FC Barcelona and Real Valladolid, valid for matchday four of LaLiga EA Sports 2024/25, taking place at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys this Saturday at 5:00 PM. The Spanish football governing body has stated that referee Isidro Díaz de Mera will be officiating this match, with Carlos del Cerro Grande on VAR.
In this context, they will face the Manchego referee for the fourth time in history, with a record of two wins and two losses. Regarding the Barcelona side, the last time they met this referee was not a pleasant memory. It was that resounding defeat on matchday 16 of LaLiga 2023/24 against Girona by 2-4 at Montjuïc.
Previously, Díaz de Mera officiated the Barça team on a couple of occasions in the 2021/22 LaLiga season, both at Camp Nou: one in matchday 21, in the 0-1 defeat against Rayo Vallecano, and the other in the 3-0 victory against Levante UD. In this last 'clash', the referee awarded a penalty in favor of the Blaugrana team, after a foul on Memphis inside the box by Nemanja Radoja. The decision was correct. The other precedent dates back to the 2020/21 season, with a 3-0 victory for the Catalan side against Elche, without major notable incidents.
Special Attention to the VAR Referee
FC Barcelona will need to pay special attention to the VAR referee, Carlos del Cerro Grande, who has been involved in several questionable situations when officiating matches involving the Barcelona team. For instance, he was the VAR referee in the controversial disallowed goal due to Ferran Torres' offside position in João Félix's goal against Granada CF in matchday 24 of LaLiga EA Sports 2023/24. This situation is just the tip of the iceberg of a series of questionable actions by the Madrid referee against the Catalan club.