This name definitely speaks to you. Jesús Gil Manzano has been appointed to referee the Europa League semi-final between Atalanta Bergamo and OM on Thursday. This judge is not unknown. As a 40-year-old, the Spaniard had already refereed the friendly match the French team lost against Germany in March at the Groupama Stadium in Lyon (0-2).
Since 2017, he has built up solid experience as a referee during Champions League matches. The man in black started with group matches, before, for example, he had the privilege of being named to the semi-final in 2023 between Inter Milan and AC Milan.
Scandal with Jude Bellingham and Real
2 March, on the occasion of Real Madrid’s trip to Valencia as part of the 27e day in the Liga (2-2), he sparked controversy by canceling the winning goal of the Merengue club, Jude Bellingham signed on a cross from Brahim Diaz at the end of extra time (90’+9). And this because he had previously whistled the end of the match, when the Moroccan national team player missed the cross. Furious, Bellingham then lunged at the referee to complain, earning him a red card. Real had cried foul and even Carlo Ancelotti, usually reluctant to criticize the referee, was moved. Jude Bellingham was then suspended for two games.
Marco Verratti’s goal
In 2022, during PSG’s match against Benfica in Lisbon, he was the target of Marco Verratti’s comments, who did not understand why Enzo Fernandez, who had wiped the crampons on his ankle, had not been excluded for such a gesture. “I spoke to him, I don’t understand anything about football anymore. He said there was no intensity. I have a swollen ankle. If it’s more intensity, it’s broken, but hey”had sighed the Parisian midfielder.
The man who sent Pique into retirement
Jesús Gil Manzano is well-known in Spain, and serves most of the time in his home country. The native of Don Benito, in the province of Badajoz, walks the La Liga grounds every weekend and had already stood out in particular during a match between Osasuna and FC Barcelona, on 8. November 2022. Nothing extraordinary so far. Except that Gérard Piqué was going to play the last game of his career that day and he didn’t have the opportunity.
Out of sight and in the corridor that brought the players back to the dressing room, at half-time, the Spaniard paid little attention to the admonitions of Gérard Piqué, then the substitute, and handed him the red card. A sending off that therefore deprived the Catalan of the final minutes of his career since Xavi, the Barça coach, had planned to bring him on in the second half.
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An astonishing national experience in France
Surprising as it may seem, Jesús Gil Manzano also has a very short experience in France. Before refereeing several international matches, including a qualifier between France and Albania (4-1) for Euro 2021, the Spaniard had also cut his teeth in the national championship in France. He had actually been appointed to referee, on 8 October 2011, the meeting between Épinal and Cherbourg (3-3).
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