Real Madrid star Dani Carvajal has today moved to provide his backing to under-fire La Liga referee Jesús Gil Manzano.
Official Gil Manzano of course found his name front and centre in the headlines across not only Spain, but all of Europe earlier this month.
This came after he was responsible for one of the most controversial decisions of the La Liga season to date.
As much came upon the Spaniard blowing the full-time whistle, to bring a close to proceedings between Valencia and Real Madrid, a split second before Jude Bellingham nodded home what looked set to be a crucial winner for the title-chasing latter.
The decision sparked pandemonium at the Mestalla, with Blancos standout Bellingham having been shown a red card owing to his protests.
The widespread takeaway from the incident was that Gil Manzano, though technically within his rights to call time on the clash, had made a serious error in doing so at such an inopportune moment.
The 40-year-old, in turn, has not been given responsibility of overseeing fixtures in either of the last two La Liga gameweeks.
On Tuesday, it may therefore come as something of a surprise to hear of Gil Manzano being sent a message of support, by a headline member of the defensive ranks at none other than Real Madrid.
Speaking to the media whilst on international duty with Spain, Dani Carvajal was asked for his take on the refereeing controversy at the Mestalla.
And, in his response, the 32-year-old went on to launch a stern defence of Gil Manzano, in explaining:
“Everyone makes mistakes. Gil Manzano has been criticised a lot since the Valencia game. He made a mistake, so what? I made a mistake too and they scored a goal. We are human beings, aren’t we? He (Gil Manzano) surely didn’t want that to happen. We have to say that being a referee is a very difficult job.”
Conor Laird | GSFN
