Robert Lewandowski was given his marching orders just over half an hour into the Barca game after elbowing one of the Osasuna defenders.
The red card itself should see him suspended for the Catalan derby. However, the gesture Lewy made expressing his disapproval put him in more trouble. The Polish is now in danger of facing a three-game ban.
So, what did the gesture mean?
Many assumed he's accusing the ref of doing drugs (what else could make Manzano officiate like this?).
However, there is another explanation.
Apparently, the nose gesture in Germany may also mean that the referee is arrogant and multiple Bundesliga players did this with no consequences at all.
But the officiating in Spain is a whole different matter. Should the disciplinary committee find Lewy guilty, he could be out for a further three games.
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Fun fact: Jesus Gil Manzano sends off Barca players 6 times more often than Real Madrid's
For some reason, Jesus Gil Manzano gets too excited when officiating Barca games and there may be some truth to Gerard Pique’s stinging opinion about this referee.
Just last night, Manzano brandished four yellow cards and two red ones to Barcelona in the win against Osasuna.
We did some digging and discovered that Manzano has handed out six straight red cards to our players in only the 33 Barca games he's officiated. On four more occasions, he’s sent a Barca player off through a second yellow card – just like he did to Lewandowski on Tuesday night.
The six times Manzano showed a direct red card to a Barca player.
Now we’re going to get slightly controversial as we’ve also dug out Manzano’s record against Real Madrid. Against them, Manzano has been a lot more lenient.
He's only shown one straight red card to a Real Madrid player in 42 games. Also, Manzano has only sent off a Madrid player three times for a second bookable offence.
The only time Manzano showed a direct red card to a Real Madrid player happened in 2019.
To get slightly more controversial, the referee has whistled 14 penalties in Madrid’s favour in 42 games but 6 penalties in Barca’s favour in 33 games.
Maybe Joan Laporta should start sending Jesus Gil Manzano our branded Barca plastic bags so he doesn’t just walk around with Real Madrid-branded bags.
'First goal was not even a corner': Xavi slams refereeing in Osasuna win – Barca got 2 red cards
Referee Gil Manzano was at the centre of a controversy after sending off Robert Lewandowski in the first half.
Gerard Pique who followed the ref into the tunnel was also handed a straight red card in the tunnel for arguing with the ref. Thus Barca received two red cards in the game.
After the game, Xavi was beside himself in frustration with the ref despite the win.
"We feel harmed," Xavi told reporters (h/t Sport).
"The first goal was not even a corner, then there was a foul and then Robert (Lewandowski) was sent off.
"They were very unfair decisions. The referee decides and we can't do anything," Xavi added.
Despite the 'poor' officiating, Barcelona went on to win 2-1 with Pedri and Raphinha scoring two second-half goals to sink the hosts.
