Published On 25/10/2025
|
Last update: 16:19 (Mecca time)
The Spanish Football Federation revealed the identity of the referee for the El Clásico match between rivals Real Madrid and Barcelona in La Liga.
Real Madrid will host Barcelona, tomorrow, Sunday, at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in the top of the tenth round of the Spanish League, at 18:15 Mecca and Doha time.
Read also
list of 2 itemsend of list
El Clasico between Real Madrid and Barcelona
The Spanish Federation announced through its official account on the “X” platform that international referee Cesar Soto Grado will officiate the upcoming Clásico, while his compatriot Javier Iglesias Villanueva will assist him from the VAR video referee room.
This will be the second appearance for Soto Grado (45 years old) in El Clásico, as he previously managed this strong confrontation once two seasons ago.
That match took place on April 21, 2024, in the 32nd round of the Spanish League, and it was also at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, in which Real Madrid achieved an exciting victory over Barcelona (3-2) with a late goal scored by Englishman Jude Bellingham in the first minute of stoppage time.
That match witnessed a great controversy regarding the “ghost goal,” according to the newspaper “Marca,” in reference to Barcelona star Lamine Jamal’s ball. The television replay did not clearly show whether it crossed the goal line before it was blocked by Real Madrid goalkeeper Andrey Lunin, and therefore the goal was not counted.
You have never said anything about this btw 😂😂 pic.twitter.com/qrMWtgkld8
— Emmanuel💫 (@emmyrex08) June 25, 2025
Soto Grado is considered one of the veteran referees in the Spanish League, as described by the Spanish newspaper, as he is currently playing his seventh and final season in the League, noting that he is a teacher in addition to refereeing football matches.
In general, Real Madrid and Barcelona have two different records in the results of the matches refereed between them by referee Soto Grado in his refereeing career and in all tournaments.
Here are the matches that Soto Grado officiated between Real Madrid and Barcelona, according to data from the famous “Transfermarkt” website:
Real Madrid: 22 matches (14 wins, 2 draws, 6 defeats).
Barcelona: 14 matches (6 wins, 3 draws, 5 defeats).
Before El Clásico, Real Madrid leads the Spanish League with 24 points, just two points behind its rival Barcelona.