De Jong expressed his frustration.

Frenkie de Jong publicly criticized the arrogant attitude of referee Jesus Gil Manzano after Barcelona's 1-2 defeat to Real Sociedad in La Liga's 20th round on the morning of January 19th.

De Jong was unhappy with how referee Gil Manzano officiated the match.

At Anoeta Stadium, Real Sociedad secured a victory thanks to goals from Mikel Oyarzabal and Goncalo Guedes, interspersed with a consolation goal from Marcus Rashford of Barcelona. This result narrowed the gap between Barcelona and Real Madrid at the top of La Liga to just one point.

After the match, the focus of the controversy revolved around the refereeing team's decisions, particularly the disallowed first-half goal by Lamine Yamal for offside. However, as captain and the only player allowed to speak with the referee, De Jong stated that what angered him was not the technical decision, but the way referee Gil Manzano behaved.

"If it was offside, then let it be offside. I haven't reviewed the situation, but the problem is you can't even talk to the referee," De Jong shared. "I'm the captain, but when I tried to communicate, he looked at me as if he were on a higher level. That's really unacceptable."

The Dutch midfielder was also unhappy with the added time, as the referee blew the final whistle after the nine minutes of injury time had elapsed, despite Real Sociedad frequently prolonging throw-ins and goal kicks. "I reminded him about it and as a result, I received a yellow card. With this referee, you're almost not allowed to speak up," De Jong added.

Coach Hansi Flick, who rarely publicly criticizes the officiating, also sided with his player. "What Frenkie said is true, but I don't want to waste energy on this. Everyone saw what happened on the pitch," the German strategist stated, while acknowledging that Gil Manzano's officiating has long been a subject of controversy.

Despite the defeat, Barcelona dominated the game with an xG (xieties) of 3.69, hitting the post 4 times and having 3 goals disallowed. However, they paid the price for their lack of concentration. After 20 matches, Barcelona have 49 points, just one point more than Real Madrid.

Source: https://znews.vn/de-jong-buc-xuc-post1620910.html