Barcelona's Hansi Flick’s referee criticism branded ‘hypocritical’ after Real Madrid dig

Hansi Flick has been called 'hypocritical' after criticising La Liga officiating following Barcelona's 2-1 loss to Real Sociedad, a year after calling out Real Madrid for the same. The German was left fuming with Spanish referee Gil Manzano after his Catalans' defeat.

Barca's setback against Sociedad means Madrid are now just a point behind their El Clasico rivals in the title race. Marcus Rashford had equalized in the 70th minute after Mikel Oyarzabal's 32nd minute opener.

But the hosts claimed all three points through Carlos Soler's 88th minute winner. It was a dissapointing night for Flick and he was frustrated with several refereeing decisions.

Hansi Flick hits out at La Liga referee

Flick, particularly, wasn't happy with Manzano's performance during the game and let him know it with a brutal assessment post-match (via Barca Universal):

""La Liga have good referees, then there's this guy. I don't want to waste more energy speaking on this guy. I was reading some comments before the match, and everyone knows how he is."

"Everyone knows how he is. Everyone saw what he did tonight. Frenkie said he was arrogant, and he was right. These guys were the same ones that did this to us last season right? In the VAR room too? Good work."

Flick's comments come after he oversaw Barca's 3-2 win over Madrid in the Supercopa de Espana final. He had previously defended the standard of officiating in Spain and hit out at Los Blancos for their public criticism.

The German tactician said back in April 2025, ahead of the Copa del Rey final between the two sides (via 90min):

“For me, it's just sport, it's just football. We have to protect everyone involved in the game. The fans, they all want to see the players, how they play. We need the referees, and we have to look after them and be careful. It's not fair play not to look after them, it's not showing them respect."

Flick's anger came from three goals being ruled out, two for offside and one for a foul in the buildup. He watched his side's 11-game winning streak across competitions come to an end.

Madrid fans label Flick a 'hypocrite'

Flick's comments didn't go unnoticed by Madridistas, and one fan put Flick on blast for his hypocritical comments. They wrote on X: "

Hansi Flick when RMTV was criticising the referees: “I don’t like it. We have to think about the families. We have to protect them.”

“We have the VAR and we have to trust them. We look for excuses. If we lose it’s because of the referees and it’s not like that.”

Hypocrites.

It's not the first time Flick has lost his temper at Manzano as he was sent off last season when Barca beat Girona 2-1. He received two yellow cards in quick succession.

Madrid are now well and truly back in the title race and are fully focused on beating their rivals. They beat Levante 2-0 on Saturday thanks to goals from Kylian Mbappe and Raul Asencio.