Barcelona president Joan Laporta took aim at referee Gil Manzano after seeing Hansi Flick sent off at the end of Saturday’s La Liga win over Girona.
Flick saw red in the closing stages and now looks set
to be handed a touchline ban just in time for El Clasico against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Laporta was asked about his dismissal at the closing stages of Sunday’s General Assembly and had the following to say:
“For the next match, our coach will not be there, the club is appealing the sanction against Hansi Flick. The referee exaggerates when he shows the yellow and waits for our coach to continue reacting,” he said.
“It will be difficult to lift the sanction. I did not like the referee’s attitude, this gentleman has sent off almost all our players. He has a history with us that is enough to see. Something always happens. We were not good either.”
Manzano certainly does have history with Barcelona. He famously sent off Robert Lewandowski against Osasuna, with the striker being hit with a three-match ban for touching his nose.
The match ref has shown a total of 12 red cards to Barça players in 44 games, having sent off stars such as Lionel Messi, Neymar, Luis Suarez, Gerard Pique, Sergi Roberto, Dani Alves and Clement Lenglet.
