“He has started handing out cards without any sense. For me, the game has gotten completely out of control,” Xavi complained about the controversial referee.
Antonio Mateu Lahoz, from the Valencian Committee, has broken his card record in the Spanish First Division this Saturday. It was during the Barcelona-Espanyol derby, on matchday fifteen, which ended in a draw (1-1).
Mateu Lahoz expelled for a double reprimand Jordi Alba and the Brazilian Vini de Souza. He also showed the red to the Uruguayan Leandro Cabrera for an action with the Polish Robert Lewandowskibut after going to the video I withdrew the card.
Likewise, throughout the game, according to the minutes, he showed the yellow card to the locals. Ansu Fati, Gavi, Ferran Torres, Pedri, Arnau Tenas and coach Xavi Hernndez, and the visitors Brian Olivn, Cabrera, Calero, Edu Expito and Puado.
In Qatar 2022 he broke the card record in the controversial quarterfinal match played between Argentina and the Netherlands. In the Albiceleste they were reprimanded Marcos Acua, Cristian Romero, Lisandro Martínez, Leandro Paredes, Leo Messi, Nicols Otamendi, Gonzalo Montiel, Germn Pezzella, the coach Lionel Scaloni and his assistant Walter Samuel; and in the Oranje Jurrien Timber, Wout Weghorst, Memphis Depay, Steven Berghuis, Steven Bergwijn, Noah Lang and Denzel Dumfrieswho was expelled after seeing two cards.
In total, in his last two games, Mateu has shown 32 cards. “I think that Mateu Lahoz is a referee who dominates and controls the matches and today he lost control. I have told him. He has started handing out cards without any sense. For me, the match has gotten totally out of control”, he said. Xavi after the match.
Faced with insistent questions from journalists on the subject, the Barcelona coach explained that he cannot “control the referee” and that “many times” he has opined that “the referee should go out and talk.” In addition, he revealed what Mateu Lahoz replied to him when he told him that the game had gotten out of control. “He told me: do you believe?”
The Barcelona player sent off was Jordi Alba for a double yellow card as a result of his protests. But Xavi explained that “Jordi has said that he hasn’t said anything at all (to Mateu Lahoz)”.
Diego Martínez, for his part, also valued the performance of the referee. “I have earned the right to never comment on the referees. There have been few fouls, it has been a game with rhythm, with tension, as derbies are in general,” said the Espanyol coach, for whom Mateu Lahoz is “one of the best referees in the world”.
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