FC Barcelona’s winning streak has come to an end, even though the Catalans were the better team in San Sebastian. Hansi Flick was more annoyed by the referee’s behavior.
It takes a lot for FC Barcelona to lose a game in their current form. On Sunday evening, that was exactly the case: The Catalans squandered a string of chances in San Sebastian (one goal from 25 shots), had luck against them (five shots hit the woodwork) and also had to contend with an efficient opponent (two goals from seven shots) and an outstanding goalkeeper – San Sebastian’s Alex Remiro was in inspired form.
An unfortunate defeat after eleven consecutive wins, as Hansi Flick also saw it. “I’m disappointed, we had a lot of clear chances and the result doesn’t reflect what we saw,” said the 60-year-old. He liked the way the team played, but “we have to defend better. We were also unlucky in attack.”
Gil Manzano’s behavior in focus
Barcelona, which is now only one point ahead of Real Madrid, was displeased with the referee’s behavior. Although Jesus Gil Manzano did not make any significant mistakes, he was still a big topic of discussion among the Catalans after the final whistle. Captain Frenkie de Jong said that you “can’t even talk to the referee, I don’t understand that. He looks at me as if he’s better than me. That was very frustrating.” This was preceded by a hair’s breadth offside position by Lamine Yamal, which is why the 18-year-old’s goal in the 27th minute was rightly disallowed.
De Jong also pointed out to Gil Manzano in stoppage time that the Basques were exaggerating their time-wasting, but after the estimated nine minutes, the referee only added ten seconds. “That’s crazy,” complained the Dutchman.
Flick jumped to his protégé’s defense. “Frenkie is right, he’s calm. He’s the captain. He’s on the pitch, wants to talk to him and can’t,” said the Barcelona coach. He said he didn’t want to “waste energy” on the referee, but then did so a little anyway. “I read comments about the referee before the game,” Flick continued. “Sometimes I want to talk to the fourth official and can’t, you have to accept that. I don’t know if there are communication problems with referees in Spain, but there are definitely communication problems with Gil Manzano.”
Matarazzo prefers to talk about his keeper
Real Sociedad coach Pellegrino Matarazzo was also asked about Gil Manzano. “To be honest, I don’t want to comment on the referee,” said the former VfB coach. “I didn’t see what happened up close, so sometimes you don’t know if it was offside or not, if the leg was up or not. I didn’t see the action well enough to make a valid judgment.” Matarazzo was much more talkative when it came to the match winner. “I see how Remiro trains every day. He’s a great goalkeeper, I knew he could deliver this performance today.” His team may have been lucky, “although it’s not luck to have a great goalkeeper.”
