An expulsion and a penalty kick for Barcelona… arbitral errors in the match between Barcelona and Girona | sports

The Catalonia mini-derby between defending champion Barcelona and its neighbor Girona in the Spanish Football League witnessed a major arbitration controversy.

Yesterday, Barcelona snatched a hard-fought victory from its guest, Girona, with a score of 2-1, in the match that took place at the Montjuïc Olympic Stadium for the ninth round of La Liga.

Referee Jesus Gil Manzano, who officiated the match, sparked a lot of controversy because of some of his decisions that almost affected the outcome of the match, depriving Barcelona of achieving an important victory before the El Clásico match against rival Real Madrid, scheduled for the next round.

Sent off and penalty kick for Barcelona

Manzano pointed out that play continued in one of the shots in the second half, after an intervention by Girona defender Vitor Reis on Barcelona striker Marcus Rashford, despite there being a clear foul against the second half.

The “Arquivo Far” account on the

🖥️💥 The VAR did not appear in Barcelona – Girona.

👉🏻 Vitor Reis releases his arm and hits Rashford in the face on the edge of entering the area.

❌ 𝗘𝗦 𝗥𝗢𝗝𝗔 𝗗𝗜𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗔.

▪️ The Girona defender is the last man and prevents the Englishman from reaching the ball. pic.twitter.com/PJ8zjgPy4u

— VAR File (@ArchivoVAR) October 18, 2025

He added, “It is a direct red card,” noting, “Reis was the last Girona defender and prevented Rashford from reaching the ball.”

The television replay showed that Reiss’ intervention on Rashford was inside the penalty area, which means that Barcelona was denied a valid penalty kick, based on the analysis of “Archiveo VAR”.

pic.twitter.com/ZkcART0cRR

— nabbed from Adithya (@Xtratime__99) October 18, 2025

Before that, Barcelona scored a goal by its young defender, Pau Cobarci, and the result indicated a draw (1-1), but Manzano canceled it due to a foul on Eric Garcia, the Catalan team player, in the shot that preceded the goal.

The same account praised Manzano’s decision, which he described as “ideal.”

⁉️💥 Is there a foul by Eric García on Hugo Rincón in the disallowed goal against Cubarsí?

✅ YES.

👉🏻 The Barcelona player clearly leans on his rival, preventing him from jumping.

▪️ Perfect decision by Gil Manzano letting the play finish before pointing out the infraction. pic.twitter.com/LDbImGkmGH

— VAR File (@ArchivoVAR) October 18, 2025

He said, “Eric Garcia clearly leaned on Hugo Rincon, Girona’s player, and prevented him from jumping and reaching the ball. An ideal decision by Manzano’s horses to let the play continue before indicating the presence of the violation.”

Barcelona temporarily rose to the top of the Spanish League with 22 points, one point ahead of its rival Real Madrid, which is visiting Getafe tonight, within the same round.