Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong criticized referee Jesis Gil Manzano's arrogant attitude after the record 11-game winning streak of the LaLiga leader was ended by Real Sociedad on Monday, January 19, 2026, early morning WIB.
Mikel Oyarzabal and Goncalo Guedes scored for Sociedad in the 2-1 win. Marcus Rashford was only able to narrow the defeat with his goal at Anoeta, which reduced Barcelona's lead at the top of the table over Real Madrid to just one point.
Barcelona questioned the decision to overturn Lamine Yamal's goal for offside in the first half, but De Jong - who captained the side - was the player appointed to speak to Gil Manzano - most angry at the referee's behaviour.
"If it's offside, yes, offside. I haven't seen it, but they told us it wasn't offside. However, what I want to say is that you can't even talk to the referee."
"I don't understand at all. I'm the captain. I tried to talk to him. He looked at me with a face as if he was better than me. It's very frustrating. You can't behave like that," De Jong said after the match.
De Jong also questioned the amount of injury time played by Gil Manzano, who blew the whistle to end the game immediately after nine minutes of extra time.
"In extra time, I told the referee to watch the time, (Sociedad) took one minute for a throw-in, a goal kick, and so on, which is of course normal."
"However, not adding even 10 seconds more seems crazy to me. I said that to the referee and he gave me a yellow card, so you can't talk to this referee," said the Dutch player.
Barcelona coach Hansi Flick, who usually refuses to criticise referees, backed De Jong's comments.
"I heard what Frenkie said and he was right. However, I don't want to waste energy on this guy. Everyone on television and in the stadium saw his performance. We have to accept it. That's the way it is," said Flick.
Asked if he felt Gil Marzano's approach to refereeing the match was arrogant, Flick did not deny it.
"Everyone knows that. I can read the comments (about it) before the game. That's how it is. I always speak well about the referee because we have very good referees in LaLiga."
"However, Frenkie is right. We have to accept it, it's not fun, but it's okay," said Flick.
On a wet night in San Sebastian, Barcelona lamented wasted chances as their record 11-match winning run in all competitions came to an end and their lead at the top of LaLiga was reduced.
They ended the game with a goal expectancy (xG) of 3.69. Four times hit the crossbar and three of their goals were disallowed - two for offside and one for foul in the attacking process - but all they got was a goal from substitute Rashford in the 70th minute.
Oyarzabal had given La Real the lead in the first half and Guedes, just a minute after Rashford's equaliser, sealed the victory that kept the hosts unbeaten in four games under new American coach Pellegrino Matarazzo.
"It was an incredible game. An incredible game. Of course, if you want to win against Barcelona, you have to be very active, very intense, connected for 90 minutes."
"We were a little lucky today and the fantastic goalkeeper Alex Ramiro. The spirit shown by the players on the pitch was special."
"What we did after the 1-1 score was also very special. We immediately attacked the goal, scored 2-1. We defended, with 10 players, with all we had."
"It's not just about footwork, but the character we showed that brought us to victory," Matarazzo said after the match.
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