FC Barcelona captain Frenkie de Jong fired off a furious post-match rant at referee Gil Manzano after a 2-1 loss to Real Sociedad in La Liga on Sunday night, explaining that the official looked at him as if it say “I’m better than you”.
NurPhoto via Getty Images
FC Barcelona captain Frenkie de Jong fired off a furious post-match rant at referee Gil Manzano after a 2-1 loss to Real Sociedad in La Liga on Sunday night, explaining that the official looked at him as if it say “I’m better than you”.
With two goals – including one from Lamine Yamal that was incredibly questionable – disallowed and a penalty overturned, Barca were hard done to in Anoeta as its 11-game winning streak came to an end.
Mikel Oyarzabal put the hosts ahead before half time and Marcus Rashford equalized in the second.
Shortly after the Englishman’s leveller, however, Goncalo Guedes netted what proved to be winner amid Jules Kounde hitting the bar and Alex Remiro pulling off world class saves.
FC Barcelona captain De Jong was furious at full time
To DAZN Espana at full time, De Jong couldn’t control his emotions though he started his post-match interview pretty calmly.
“I think we deserve to win today. We had many chances but we have to score them. We played well, the only thing is that we didn’t win. Their goalkeeper played a very good game,” the Dutchman first said.
Then asked about the ruled out goals, De Jong answered: “In the end, if it’s offside, it’s offside. There is no other (alternative). I haven’t seen it. We have been told that it wasn’t. Then I told the fourth official. Last year something exactly the same happened here.
Turning to Manzano, however, De Jong ranted: “What I do want to say is that you can’t even talk to the referee. I’m the captain and I don’t understand it. He looks at me with a face like ‘I’m more than you’. It’s frustrating. You can’t behave like that.”
“We missed many chances. It’s the most disappointing thing. At the end of the game, in added time, I tell him to watch the clock. It took a minute to take a goal kick… it is normal for them to do so. And he didn’t give ten more seconds. I think it’s crazy. I told him that and he gives me a card,” De Jong added.
FC Barcelona still tops La Liga
Despite the loss, Hansi Flick and his men still have reasons to be cheerful.
The winning streak was never going to last forever, and FC Barcelona remains on top of the pack leading Real Madrid by a point ahead of returning to the Champions League away at Sparta Prague on Wednesday.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomsanderson/2026/01/18/fc-barcelona-skipper-de-jong-in-furious-rant-at-real-sociedad-referee-he-thought-he-was-better-than-me/
