OFFICIAL: Gil Manzano chosen as the referee for the Barça-Real Madrid

The RFEF confirmed the assignments for the next round of La Liga. Jesus Gil Manzano will be in charge of 'El Clasico' with the help of Guillermo Cuadra Fernandez from the VAR

The RFEF, after the performances of the Spanish teams in the Champions League group stage this week, released the list of referees for the next La Liga matchday 11. All eyes were quickly focused on 'El Clasico' appointments. Jesus Gil Manzano will be the main referee and Guillermo Cuadra Fernandez will be in charge of the VAR.

The assistants chosen are Angel Nevado Rodriguez and Javier Martinez Nicolas. Manuel García Gómez will be the fourth official and Diego Barbero Sevilla will be the VAR assistant. On the pitch, the official-reporter will be Felix Daniel Sanchez Marcos. Over the last few days, there had been a proliferation of speculation about who would be assigned to such an important match, and Gil Manzano has been on the list of the most likely referees from the outset.

This season, the referee has officiated 8 matches, 5 in La Liga, 2 in the qualifiers for the European Championship and one in the Champions League. The most recent was the domestic match between Villarreal and Athletic on 22nd October, four days ago, when he showed three yellow cards and awarded a penalty. A week earlier, he was in charge of the Austria-Belgium match, in which he also awarded a penalty and showed 3 yellow cards apart from a red.

This season, he has only refereed on more than one occasion for the 'Lions', on the opening day against Real Madrid, when Jude Bellingham caused such a sensation with a stunning goal in Carlo Ancelotti's side's 2-0 win. He has not featured in Barcelona matches since 26nd April.