In the 27th round of La Liga, Real Madrid suffered a controversial penalty and drew 2-2 with Valencia away. In the final minute of stoppage time, Brahim crossed and Bellingham headed in the goal, but referee Hill Manzano blew the whistle for the end of the game the moment Brahim passed the ball, a decision that caused great displeasure on Real Madrid. Bellingham was also shown a red card for complaining to the referee that "this xx is a goal".
According to the "As" newspaper, Hill Manzano's penalty not only aroused the anger of Real Madrid, but also worried Real Madrid's top management. According to the newspaper, the Real Madrid hierarchy fears that the La Liga referee will blow the "mission whistle" in Real Madrid's match with the aim of "bringing Barcelona back into the race for the league title". Previously, Barcelona had complained that La Liga referees were biased towards Real Madrid, and Real Madrid's senior management believed that the referee group may have been affected. Real Madrid and Barcelona will welcome the second leg of this season's league national derby on April 21, and Real Madrid is also worried about the referee and the scale of the penalty for this game.
Spain's Arena said that Hill Manzano had already realised after the game that the blow was wrong. According to the newspaper Marca, the referee's technical committee may let Ciel Manzano "take a short vacation" to avoid the limelight.
However, after this controversial decision, it seems that Ciel Manzano can take off the label of "Real Madrid referee" - at least judging by the reaction of Real Madrid and **. In the past few years, Hill Manzano has been considered by Barcelona and Atletico Madrid to be a referee who favors Real Madrid and targets him, and he has created no less controversy than the "little princess" Laos.
Sil Manzano has been labelled as a "Real Madrid referee", perhaps starting with the 2016-17 season. That season, Hill Manzano awarded Real Madrid a controversial penalty against Villarreal, and after the game, Villarreal president Roig angrily criticized the referee, saying that Manzano had "taken the bag given by Real Madrid" when he left the pitch. Although it was later confirmed that the Manzano referee team only received the routine souvenirs.
In the 2020/21 season, Real Madrid won 2-1 against Barcelona in the second leg of the league national derby, with Ciel Manzano replacing Laos, who had been injured before the game. Barcelona were very unhappy with some of the decisions made by Hill Manzano in this game, believing that Manzano missed a penalty in the game. In addition, Manzano has also become the focus of heated discussions after sending off Diego Costa in 2019 and Pique in 2022. Manzano's blow for the Madrid derby in February last year also sparked concern for Atletico, with Sheeters centre-back Savic commenting: "You can't talk to this referee, as soon as we speak, he will give us cards, it's not normal at all." ”
Hill Manzano's blow also puzzled Laos, who was already on the whistle, who said in a show, "Now the referees are blowing more according to the spirit of the Friday [referee technical committee] meeting, rather than according to the sport of football." They want to follow the guidelines of the meeting to blow the penalty game. It's worrying that a referee with 11 years of experience, a referee who will be refereeing the Euros on our behalf, is really worrying. This is a systemic error. ”
The situation now is that we [the referees] are too conceited and we always blow the game according to the spirit of the meeting. If it hadn't happened, the referee's technical committee would have thought he had blown the penalty well. ”