Born in 1984, Jesús Gil Manzano, the designated referee for Aston Villa-Juventus, made his debut in the Spanish top flight in 2012 and joined the Fifa referees in 2014. In his career he has followed 3 finals of different Spanish competitions. The Spanish whistle, also according to former colleagues, is considered touchy but the numbers speak for him: he made his debut in La Liga at just 28 years old and shortly before turning 30 he was named international, becoming the youngest ever in his country to reach the milestone.
The fearless referee is calledhe was in fact the first to show a red card to Leo Messi, fresh from the golden ball, in the final of the 2021 Spanish Super Cup won by Athletic and to concede three penalties against Real Madrid in the same match, in 2020 against Valencia. In addition to being an established referee, Manzano is also a student: he has a degree in Environmental Sciences from the University of Salamanca, has obtained two master’s degrees (one on the prevention of risks at work and one on renewable resources and energy engineering) and is continuing your academic career at the Faculty of Psychology but how did you manage yesterday?
- Gil Manzano’s history with Juventus
- The referee cautioned 5 players
- Aston Villa-Juventus, the slow-motion cases
- Calvarese’s sentence and Emery’s anger
- Marelli’s explanation
Gil Manzano’s history with Juventus
Manzano has numerous precedents with Italian teams in European cups. Italy also refereed. Two years ago he directed the first leg of the European semi-final between Milan and Inter. Two encounters with the Bianconeri: in 2020 the defeat in Lyon (1-0), in 2021 the success against Chelsea (1-0).
The referee cautioned 5 players
Assisted by assistants Barbero and Nevado with Martínez Munuera IV man, Hernández al Var e Cuadra all’Avarthe referee cautioned five players: Tielemans (A), Pau Torres (A), Bailey (A), Kalulu (J), Weah (J), Koopmeiners (J)
Aston Villa-Juventus, the slow-motion cases
These are the main doubtful episodes of the race. In the 10th minute, foul on Conceicao. Tielemans complains about the whistle and the referee shows him the yellow card. At 12′ another yellow card, and again for protests: Gil Manzano makes no concessions and shows Bailey the yellow card. In the 38th minute Pau Torres commits a foul on Weah and gets yellow from Gil Manzano. In the 44th minute Kalulu received a yellow card for a foul on Watkins.
In the 57th minute, an excellent start from Conceicao, who enters the area from the right and shoots towards goal. Pau Torres seems to touch with one hand but the arm is totally adherent to the body. For Gil Manzano there is no penalty. In the 77th minute Weah also received a yellow card after a late tackle on Digne. In the 92nd minute yellow for Koopmeiners who prevented the home team from restarting. In the 93rd minute Rogers puts the ball in the net but it seems there was a foul on Di Gregorio. After a long check the goal is annulled and after 5 minutes of injury time Aston Villa-Juventus ends 0-0.
Calvarese’s sentence and Emery’s anger
“VAR robbed us”Emery blurts out in the press conference, clinging to one detail: the raised arm of the whistle which seems to indicate midfield. At that moment, as can be seen from the wide shot, the match director, Gil Manzano, blows the whistle and mimes precisely that direction with his arm: a signal that would normally lead one to think about the awarding of the goal. But no. What happened? The possible reconstruction of that decisive moment is also provided by the former referee, Calvarese, who, when analyzing it in slow motion for Amazon Prime Video, remains perplexed by that attitude.
“Evidently, seeing that arm raised, one must think that he blew the free-kick. Otherwise we don’t understand why, if they reported something to him, why he didn’t go and review the action. Little was understood because Gil Manzano initially pointed to midfield. Di Gregorio tries to come out and I am sure that without Diego Carlos’ disturbance he would have blocked the ball. It is therefore right to cancel the goal.”
Marelli’s explanation
Luca Marelli also comments on Facebook and explains: “I would say that, regarding the infringement on Di Gregorio, there isn’t much to discuss, the foul is obvious (irregular charge on the goalkeeper). A little clarity on the chaos after the scoring. Fundamental point to remember: for fifteen years now we have NOT blown the whistle in the event of a goal being scored, the referee only indicates the midfield. The referee Gil Manzano, after the goal, he hesitated for two seconds on the stopwatch because he was very undecided about what he saw. Two seconds after the goal, in the original audio, you can hear the referee’s whistle which can only have indicated the infringement on Di Gregorio. And there can be no other explanation because, going back to the beginning, the referee NEVER blows the whistle for the goal to be scored. Gil Manzano, in short, made a mess due to a moment of hesitation.
Both the concession of the goal and the direction of the free kick are indicated with the arm towards the midfield. To avoid confusion among the players and also among the public, in the event of a foul preceding the goal, the referee blows his whistle and runs towards the area, precisely to indicate the free kick awarded in favor of the defense. On the contrary, Gil Manzano remained stuck on the spot because, evidently, he had a moment of emptiness as to how he should act. Furthermore, as you may have noticed, the Aston Villa players interrupted the celebration for a moment. Why? Simple: because they heard the whistle which, as mentioned, is never blown in the case of a validated goal.
It also goes without saying that VAR could not have intervened for two reasons:
– impossible for a varist to see the episode, isolate the best image, evaluate and communicate with the referee. For such a sequence of actions you need at least 30/40 seconds, it is impossible that they have exhausted everything in five seconds
– this action, to lead to annulment, requires a whistle from the referee on the pitch (as happened) or an OFR, given that it is not an objective infringement (such as offside or a goal scored by hand or immediately after a touch by hand), but rather a subjective evaluation of the intensity of the contact.
Source: sport.virgilio.it
