The Negreira case and insults to Vinícius: a controversial past haunting the Clásico referee
Excitement starts early!
Real Madrid go into Sunday's Clasico amid a mood of considerable discontent over the announcement of the refereeing team.
Juan Martinez Munuera will take charge of the match, with Javier Iglesias Villanueva on VAR duty. Both names had circulated before their appointment was officially confirmed. Both also carry a history of previous incidents that explain the Spanish club's lack of trust.
The leaked appointment only sharpened the anger, set against an already tense relationship between Real Madrid and the refereeing system.
It all kicked off before the official announcement. Jose Mourinho voiced his displeasure after the win over Leipzig, when reporters asked him about the possible names to take charge of the match. The coach flagged the problem of knowing the referees' identity before their appointment was made official.
Previous incidents feed the grievance too. Both referees have a record of decisions that sparked public protests, an official complaint lodged by the club, and an extremely serious incident involving Kylian Mbappe.
Then there is Martinez Munuera's professional dealings with the son of Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, a matter that surfaced through the judicial investigation, according to a report by okdiario journalist Ivan Martin.
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Martínez Munuera and the payments to Negreira's son
According to the same report, Martínez Munuera's name surfaced in material tied to the investigation file in the Negreira case after he used the services of Javier Enríquez, Negreira's son, in mental coaching, paying for them through bank transfers. His brother and assistant, Miguel Martínez Munuera, confirmed as much. The stated aim was to sharpen his concentration during matches.
Why has this stirred such controversy? Javier Enríquez's father held the post of vice-president of the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA), and investigators were already probing the payments Barcelona made to entities linked to him.
A referee turning to these services raised fresh questions about the relationships running through the refereeing system. Martínez Munuera defended his integrity in public, insisting he had broken no law.
These payments do not, in themselves, prove favouritism towards Barcelona or any fixing of results. Real Madrid, who joined the Negreira case to defend their interests, argue that the credibility of refereeing demands full explanations and guaranteed transparency.
The dispute remains open. It colours the atmosphere around any refereeing appointment of this magnitude.
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Controversy over the Militao incident, Osasuna's complaint and insults to Vinicius
One of the incidents that most provoked Real Madrid's displeasure with Martinez Munuera dates back to their match against Sevilla in May 2021. A single sequence changed both the area in which the foul was given and the side it favoured. Martinez Munuera awarded a penalty to Karim Benzema, only for a review of an earlier Eder Militao handball to hand the spot-kick to Sevilla instead. The match finished 2-2, at a decisive stage in the fight for the La Liga title.
Zinedine Zidane reacted with unusual fury, demanding clarity on how handballs were being judged. The incident has lingered ever since, one of the cases Madrid supporters reach for whenever they question how consistently the laws are applied.
The most direct clash, though, came in March 2024. Real Madrid filed a complaint against Martinez Munuera with the disciplinary committee over the wording of his report on the match against Osasuna. The club accused the referee of leaving out the insults aimed at Vinicius, insisting their players had flagged them to him.
Their objection went beyond a sporting decision. It reached into the question of protecting the player and documenting what happened in the stands. The technical committee of referees rejected Madrid's version, stating the audio recordings contained none of the alerts the club described.
The federation delegate's report, by contrast, logged chants that insulted the Brazilian. That sparked another public row between the Royal club and the body in charge of refereeing.
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Iglesias Villanueva and the intervention that angered Real Madrid
For Javier Iglesias Villanueva, the most notable previous incident came in February 2025, when Espanyol hosted Real Madrid.
Carlos Romero caught Mbappé from behind with a hard challenge, yet picked up only a yellow card. The video assistant referee never sent the official to the monitor to check whether it merited a red.
The defender stayed on the pitch. He went on to score the only goal of the game.
Real Madrid lodged an official complaint and demanded the audio recordings covering the incidents they deemed unfair. At the centre of the protest sat the video technology room, whose entire purpose is to correct serious refereeing errors.
That episode casts a shadow over Javier Iglesias Villanueva's appointment. The decisions attributed to his brother Ignacio involve a different referee, and according to the report, they offer no grounds to hold Javier responsible or to assume personal ties between the pair simply because they share a surname.
Victories do not erase objections
Martínez Munuera boasts a positive record with Real Madrid across the previous four Clásicos he has officiated. The Royal club won three of them, with Barcelona claiming just one.
Those matches included the 4-0 win in the second leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final at the Camp Nou, plus the 4-1 triumph in the 2024 Spanish Super Cup final.
The report concluded: "Real Madrid wants the Clásico clash to be settled on the pitch. But it enters the game loaded with many memories of matches that ended with it demanding explanations from the refereeing system."
