Laporta: Support Flick, referee Manzano always makes similar calls before important games

October 20th: Barcelona President Laporta questioned the head referee of this round of La Liga, Jorge Gil-Manzano.

In the 9th round of La Liga, Barcelona defeated Girona 2-1 at home. In the 90th minute of the game, Barcelona coach Flick was shown two consecutive yellow cards by the referee Manzano and sent off for protesting against the penalty. Flick will therefore miss the next round of Barcelona's national derby against Real Madrid. At Barcelona's annual general meeting the day after the game, a member asked Barcelona president Laporta whether there was bias or behind-the-scenes manipulation in the penalty.

In this regard, Laporta said: "Even if there is no behind-the-scenes manipulation, it is very close. We have appealed the two yellow cards. The referee's move was too much, and he seemed to be waiting for some kind of reaction before showing the second yellow card. I know it is very difficult to revoke the penalty. It's difficult, but I have told Coach Flick that the club supports him. "

Laporta went on to point out that referee Manzano has sent off Barcelona stars such as Messi, Suarez, Neymar, Pique, Alves, and Lewandowski in the past. "This referee has sent off almost all our important players. You can tell from his resume at a glance. We thought it would never happen again, but it always happens, and it always happens before such an important game."

Finally, Laporta said: "What happened yesterday...we didn't perform well enough in the game, not like usual. But this victory will give us a lot of confidence, just like when we played a central defender as a center forward at the end of the game, and finally scored the winning goal."