Flick hits out at referee Gil Manzano after Real Sociedad 2-1 Barcelona: ‘We all know what he is like’

FC Barcelona saw their 11-game winning streak across all competitions come to an end on Sunday night as they fell to a 2-1 loss to Real Sociedad away at the Reale Arena.

On a night when Barça dominated from start to end, they were denied constantly by the woodwork and controversial refereeing by match official Gil Manzano and the VAR.

After all, the Blaugrana hit the woodwork on five occasions while also having three goals ruled out by the referee – two for offside, and one for a foul in the buildup.

The result meant that Barcelona’s lead at the top has been cut to just one point.

Speaking to the media after the match, Barcelona manager Hansi Flick expressed happiness with the team’s performance but frustration with how the match official performed on the night.

Building on captain Frenkie de Jong’s comments on the referee, wherein he stated that Gil Manzano was acting arrogantly throughout, Flick said:

“I know what the referee is like. Everyone has seen it. I do not want to spend energy on him. I had already read comments about the referee before the match. There are very good referees in LaLiga, but we all know what he is like.”

Continuing, the German head coach added: “Frenkie is right in what he said, Frenkie is right. He is always calm, he is the captain, and he wants to speak to the referee, and he cannot. We could not either with the fourth official.

“We have to accept it, it is not nice, but it is like this. We cannot change it. We do not have to spend energy on other things, only on improving. There is a lack of communication with this referee.”

Flick was later reminded that the VAR referee was the same official who disallowed a goal by Robert Lewandowski last season for offside in what was a controversial decision.

Flick laughed and replied, saying “Good job”, smiling as he compared that goal with the one disallowed this season for Lamine Yamal.

Talking about the game and the performance of the team on the night, the Barcelona boss remarked:

“I am disappointed. We played a great match, we created many chances, but in the end the result does not reflect our performance. But this is the way we want to play football.

“It is the Barça way. There are days when you spend a lot of energy, but you are unlucky. I appreciate what I saw on the pitch.”

Despite Barcelona’s attacking display, two defensive mistakes ultimately left them without points. Flick liked how his team played, but he also acknowledged that there are aspects to improve for the upcoming matches.

“We made mistakes in defence, we have to defend better, but I told the team that we played well. Before the 1-1, we were playing well, but the second goal killed us. That is what we have to improve,” acknowledged Flick.

We have to accept it, sometimes, you do not know why you lose matches, and this is one of them. We have to focus on the next match, it is very important,” he added.

Concluding, Flick termed the match the unluckiest of his career and made it clear that there were areas of their game that needed improvement.

Source: SPORT

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