The referee from Alicante will direct his third classic and the two teams have won this match with him
Despite everything, the penalty that was whistled at the Camp Nou in the 2020 duel stung a lot at the Barça club
Juan Martínez Munuera is the designated referee to deliver justice in Wednesday’s classic at the Spotify Camp Nou. A decisive match because at stake is qualifying for the Copa del Rey final. The Catalans start with a slight advantage as they won the first leg 0-1 at the Santiago Bernabéu.
The two teams have a positive balance with the Alicante referee, although in overall figures FC Barcelona presents better numbers. He has coached 32 games for both Barça and Real Madrid during his career. With him as referee, the Catalans have achieved 22 victories, 6 draws and 4 defeats. And they have seen 68 yellow cards and one red.
Precisely, Barça lost in the first game that Munuera whistled them. It was in 2013 in a narrow defeat against Athletic Club. That day he showed seven yellow cards to the Catalan team. With him, they also lost at home against Málaga, in the quarterfinals of the Copa del Rey against Athletic in 2020 and the league classic that same season.
Precisely, there is a bad memory of that arbitration because he whistled an incomprehensible penalty for grabbing Lenglet on Sergio Ramos. That goal allowed Madrid to get 1-2 on the scoreboard and also Jordi Alba would end up receiving a yellow card for protesting.
The play also outraged the director of that time, Xavi Vilajoana, who, hotly, described as a “fucking scandal” that this maximum penalty was given and sent Martínez Munuera “to shit”. Later, he wanted to apologize for the tone. “I admit that when I was hot I didn’t use the most appropriate words, so I apologize if someone could have felt offended. But it’s still a scandal. Lenglet grabs the shirt when they push him. He never takes a penalty. Who has played football You know,” he wrote.
Nor did he like it in the Barcelona club that annulled a goal to Leo Messi for alleged hands in the semifinals of the 2020 Spanish Super Cup against Atlético de Madrid. That day Barça played a great game but ended up losing and Ernesto Valverde dismissed.
The real Madrid
Martínez Munuera has also managed 32 matches for Real Madrid. With him as judge, the madridistas have achieved 19 victories, 6 draws and 7 defeats. And they have seen 69 yellow cards and one red.
The defeats have been against Real Sociedad in the 2014-2015 season, against Eibar in 2018-2019, in the second leg of the round of 16 of the Copa del Rey against Leganés in the 2018-2019 season, also that season against Real Sociedad, in the semifinal of the Spanish Super Cup against Athletic Club in the 2020-2021 season, the 2021-2022 0-4 classic, Xavi Hernández’s first as a Barça coach, and this season against Vallecano Ray.
At Real Madrid they do not have a good memory of some hands that Militao whistled in a match against Sevilla while the white team was fighting for the league title.