Red Star Meets Hapoel in Hungary, Gil Manzano Referees
Red Star play Hapoel Beer Sheva on August 4 in the Hungarian town of Szombathely, and the man in the middle is Jesus Gil Manzano, a referee the Belgrade club remembers for all the wrong reasons.
November 2021, the Marakana, stoppage time, and a corner Red Star won but never took. Jesus Gil Manzano blew the final whistle against Milan before the ball reached the corner flag. The scoreline from that night faded faster than the whistle did.
Five years on, the same Spaniard has been handed a tie that decides whether Red Star spend the autumn in Europe or at home. The first leg of the Champions League third qualifying round against Hapoel Beer Sheva is set for Tuesday, August 4, and it will not be played in Israel. The hosts have moved it to Szombathely in western Hungary. The return leg is in Belgrade on August 11.
A referee Red Star already know
Gil Manzano is not a new name on the club’s list. Beyond that cut-short corner against Milan, he also handled their trip to Naples, where Red Star lost 3-1 to Napoli in the Champions League. His wider file is better known outside Serbia.
- in Valencia against Real Madrid (2-2) he ended the match while the ball was still in the air, wiping out a Jude Bellingham goal
- Bellingham was sent off for protesting, and Gil Manzano was suspended after that fixture
- he is the only referee ever to show Lionel Messi a red card in a Barcelona shirt, in the 2021 Spanish Super Cup against Athletic Bilbao
For a side entering a two-legged tie, that history matters. Red Star open on neutral ground, against opponents who are hosts on paper only, with an official whose most famous calls have come in the final seconds.
Szombathely, 650 kilometres from Belgrade
The town sits in western Hungary near the Austrian border, roughly 650 kilometres from Belgrade by road. That is six and a half to seven hours of driving through Novi Sad, Subotica and Budapest, a trip a coach covers in a single day with no flights and no connections.
Hapoel’s management has opened the stadium to away supporters, so Red Star will not be playing in front of an empty visiting section. In qualifiers decided over 180 minutes, a filled away end is a measurable edge rather than a mood.
What does Red Star gain by going through?
Getting past Hapoel is worth at least 3.695 million euros and guarantees a place in the Conference League league phase at minimum. Even if the club then falls out of the Champions League path, it stays in Europe until winter with a fixture list that brings both revenue and coefficient points. Losing this tie would be the first real hole in the season’s budget.
Red Star arrived in the third round without conceding against Larne, winning the second leg 5-0 for a 9-0 aggregate. Hapoel took a different route, losing the first leg of their own tie 2-1 before turning it around with a 2-0 win, which says something about a side that is comfortable chasing.
That is the part of the Larne tie that will not transfer. Larne let Red Star play. If the Szombathely match reaches the last ten minutes with a single goal between the teams, the referee’s name will suddenly carry far more weight than it does today.
The first answer comes on August 4 in Szombathely, the second seven days later at the Marakana.
