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BARCELONA, SPAIN - DECEMBER 31: Mateu Lahoz, match referee shows a yellow card to Ferran Torres of FC Barcelona during the LaLiga Santander match between FC Barcelona and RCD Espanyol at Spotify Camp Nou on December 31, 2022 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Eric Alonso/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Former referee Mateu Lahoz has been reflecting on his career and has revealed that the derby between Barcelona and Espanyol back in December 2022 was the “worst game” of his life.
The match official was no stranger to controversy throughout his time on the pitch and provoked more headlines with his performance in the game between the two local rivals.
The game came after Lahoz’s infamous performance at the 2022 World Cup between Argentina and the Netherlands where he showed 17 yellow cards and one red card, leading to criticism from Lionel Messi and Frenkie de Jong.
Lahoz admitted he had been affected by those comments and wasn’t in a good place when he was then appointed at the referee for the Catalan Derby.
“After that match, we arrived in Spain to rest, as it had been a very intense match, and we were appointed to referee a Barça-Espanyol match,” he told the Vaya Vaina podcast (h/t Sport).
“That is the worst game of my life,” he said and added “because I was not psychologically well.”
Lahoz went on to explain: “Many players began to tell me: ‘What a World Cup you have done’. They began to treat me badly, getting personal.”
The game became the Lahoz show once again with the referee sending off Jordi Alba and Vini Souza and showing 16 yellow cards in an ill-tempered 1-1 draw.
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