El Clásico - Barça fans fume as La Liga reveals ref's identity for the game

April 8, 2021 By Oscar Rojas

Topics: La Liga, Real Madrid, Barcelona, El Clásico, Mateu Lahoz

A portion of Barcelona's fandom complained about La Liga's decision regarding the man in charge of having the rulebook respected.

La Liga's decision regarding the referee for El Clásico is always met with doubts, and this time, it was no different.

Earlier today, La Liga published the names of the referees that will be in charge of taking care of stuff while on the pitch and those who will help them via the Video Assistant Referee (VAR). Speaking about the big game, the man in charge of calling the shots will be Antonio Mateu Lahoz, while César Soto Grado will be in charge of the Video Assistant Referee.

Lahoz will play this role for the sixth time. His last appearance in this type of game took place on March 1, 2020, when Real Madrid claimed a two-nil win over Los Culés.

The main reason for Barça fans to worry is that their team has only been able to beat Real Madrid once when Lahoz has been calling the shots. That game took place on March 22, 2015, and Barcelona took home the win with a 2-1 score, thanks to Luis Suárez and Jeremy Mathieu's goals, who canceled the equalizer by Cristiano Ronaldo.

Fans shared their theories and opinions regarding Lahoz's task and previous performances, and needless to say, there was no consensus on what to think about this decision by La Liga.

It's confirmed. Antonio Mateu Lahoz will referee el clásico.

Whichever team you support, get your agenda claims in now

Neutral? Well sit back and embrace the chaos#LLL
pic.twitter.com/fV9LESUZkk
— La Liga Lowdown (@LaLigaLowdown) April 8, 2021

Initially, the referees for El Clásico were going to be Munuera Montero and De Burgos (man in the picture below) but now everything indicates that there will be MATEU LAHOZ (referee) and SOTO GRADO in the VAR. #rmlive

— @JuanfeSanzPerez pic.twitter.com/661ODdQzse
— Los Blancos Live (@blancoslive) April 7, 2021