SUMMARY
- Recently, an old video of Declan Rice featuring the Spanish referee, Jesus Gil Manzano, went viral.
- Rice was seen confronting Gil Manzano for his poor decision.
A throwback video of Declan Rice is making the rounds on the internet and has put more spotlight on the Spanish referee, Jesus Gil Manzano. The referee is already under immense pressure for his controversial decision in the La Liga clash between Real Madrid and Valencia. Now, the pressure is expected to mount among the online soccer community after this throwback video.
The video is from the 2021/22 season, where the German side, Eintracht Frankfurt, met West Ham in the semi-finals of the Europa League. The Bundesliga team came out as the winner of the tie with a 3-1 scoreline. However, the second leg of the tie was filled with controversial decisions, and Jesus Gil Manzano was the on-field referee.
Declan Rice confronts Jesus Gil Manzano
Aaron Cresswell was shown a red card in the first half, which ended the chances of the English team to fight back the 2-1 scoreline in the first leg in London. The red card and some other decisions were highly contested, and the emotions got the better of the English midfielder.
Declan Rice to Gil Manzano:
“How can you be this bad? You’ve probably been f*cking paid, f*cking corruption.”
Everyone knows Spanish referee’s are a joke.pic.twitter.com/jwHerOcr8z
— TC (@totalcristiano) March 3, 2024
Rice was filmed in the tunnel after the game, where he was caught on camera confronting Manzano. The midfielder stated, “Ref! Ref! It’s so poor! All night, it’s so bad. How can you be that bad? Honestly, you’ve probably been f**ing paid, f**ing corruption.”
The corruption comments didn’t go down well with UEFA, which banned the English midfielder and future captain of West Ham for two games. The English midfielder served his ban and returned next season to help the English win the UEFA Conference League title in the 2022/23 season.
Jesus Gil Manzano is again in the spotlight for controversial decisions
The story for West Ham and Declan Rice ended on a high note with the UEFA conference title. But two seasons later, the story is the same for Jesus Gil Manzano and his decision against Real Madrid. The Spanish referee denied Jude Bellingham’s match-winner against Valencia by blowing a second before the midfielder headed home against Valencia.
➖ Real Madrid on the attack in the ninth minute of added time
➖ Referee blows the whistle while the ball is in the air
➖ Jude Bellingham scores seconds after
➖ Jude sent off after words with refereeThe end of Valencia 2-2 Real Madrid was WILD 😱 pic.twitter.com/GFwRNM1X5p
— B/R Football (@brfootball) March 2, 2024
The decision has caused an uproar in Madrid, which felt that they were robbed of two points by poor refereeing. Real Madrid even released an official statement on the incident after the match. All the reactions and the history of Manzano have put pressure on the governing bodies to assess his performances.
There is already added pressure in Spain on officials with an ongoing investigation of FC Barcelona in a related case. The corruption label will be easier to stick to in Spain as compared to Germany. The upcoming weeks might add more pressure on the experienced Spanish referee.
