Iturralde González to referee Atletico-Barcelona game
Basque referee Eduardo Iturralde González will oversee Saturday’s contest between Atletico Madrid and FC Barcelona when the two sides meet next week in the Vicente Calderón in Madrid. The 42-year-old dentist made his official debut in the 1995-96 season, and now referees in the Spanish Primera, as well as taking charge of Champions League and international contests. In his 10 seasons in the first division, he has presided over 169 matches, handing out 918 yellow cards, and ejected 75 players.
Iturralde González has been accused of harboring pro-Barça sympathies, and there is no question that he has emerged as one of the most controversial referees in the Spanish topflight. He is unofficially famous for brandishing the “longest” yellow card in the history of La Liga. This dubious honor was awarded in November of last year when he produced a yellow card against Valencia player Nikola Zigic for diving, and then stood motionless for 13 seconds with the card held high in the air.
Guardiola’s squad last saw Iturralde González during their 1-0 derby victory over Espanyol in December of last year, where he controversially awarded a penalty for a foul on Xavi by Raul Baena. Iturralde González was also on the pitch in October of 2008 when Barcelona crushed Atletico 6-1, scoring 5 times in the first 28 minutes of play.
Watch Iturralde González in action here:
Iturralde González in action 2
By Stevenson
Pro-Barcelona=actually being fair and calling things properly for both teams
I have noticed that the best ref for us has been Luis Medina Cantalejo. He has made many a bit dubious pro-Barca calls including pk for Barca and red card for Roberto Carlos in Clasico in spring 2006, added time penalty kick vs Espanyol in autumn 2008 and he also awarded Barca a penalty kick in El Clasico in Dec 08(but he let RM kick Messi´s legs way too much though)
But hey the most respected and good refs are pro-Barca. Only looser refs are Madrid fans:).
Visca el Barca!!!
i just hope he calls the match straight down the middle.
I don't doubt that he will. I've always seen him as fairly even.
Don't miss the first link, it's hilarious.
that video is HILARIOUS!! like a LASER, he is…lol
My current favorite is Mallenco
Oh really, Mallenco happened to be the guy who ruined el Clasico in March 2007 by sending off Oleguer and rewarding Guti´s ridiculous dive inside the box but didnt see how harshly Dinho was hacked down inside the area in added time. That 3-3 draw was one of the reasons why Barca didnt win the league
the best ref ever after colina is MR. MEJITO GONZALES .
this is why i am in favour of european refs reffing games i.e an english ref could ref a spanish game and vice versa and this should happen all over europe thus it will eliminate any political bias etc and i can tell you now the challemge messi gt by rafa in england would have been an automatic yellow etc. its an idea i think uefa raised the idea at there summit last year!!
Spanish Referees give way to much yellow cards!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yk07B1oBXQQ
That's good because I think Barcelona will need as much help as possible in this match. I think this might be our first La Liga lost of the season.
maybe iturralde is a closet athleti fan & resents the ancient madrid version of the bilbao team,which practically has no basque connections in modern day!! whatever the advantages,barca should proceed with caution since atletico has newfound confidence with a secured copa del rey final!!. ilpostino.