Del Cerro, even in the soup

The parrots frowned when the arbitration appointments of the Ponferradina-Spanish of the Copa del Rey, last Tuesday, and directly distrust and place the magnifying glass after knowing who will deliver justice in theElche’s visit to the RCDE Stadium, this Monday. The proper name in the center of the focus is none other than Carlos del Cerro Grande, main collegiate in El Toralín and now responsible for the VAR. And always controversial for years for the blue and white.

It did not happen to majors what of Tuesday, because those of Vicente Moreno used the penalty shootout to pass the tie. But If an extension had to be disputed and go this far, it was because of Del Cerro’s consideration, who with 0-1 on the scoreboard and already in minute 89, signaled a penalty on Yuri de Souza doubly debatable: In case the struggle with Sergi Gómez was so worthwhile and, directly, because the Brazilian started offside. But there was no VAR in the Cup, not until the next tie, and no one amended the Madrid flat.

Neither with video arbitration had they corrected him in his previous appointment with Espanyol, on November 20 at the Camp Nou, when two minutes after the restart He interpreted a penalty in a slight contact by Leandro Cabrera on Memphis Depay after the Uruguayan had already usurped the ball cleanly from the Dutch. Barcelona won that night by the minimum, 1-0, thanks to that maximum penalty.

And before, in his string of nine consecutive games without winning Under his orders, Del Cerro had given Espanyol some of his great performances. As the fifth yellow that he showed Cabrera, again Cabrera, for understanding that he called a rival “cockroach”, when in fact he was recriminating “he crouches”, against Levante, on June 20, 2020.

Or the dubious honor of having caused the first goal conceded by VAR in LaLiga history, since he on the field estimated that the ball had not entered a direct free from Esteban Granero during Espanyol-Valencia on August 26, 2018.

Also against Valencia, but in Mestalla and on November 17, 2012, the referee starred in another auditory perception error, at expel Sergio García and write in the minutes that he had been called a “scoundrel”, even though he had blurted out “this is a shame”. The nuance, a priori harmless, cost Bon Pastor a tough four-game sanction.

This time Del Cerro Grande will not referee Espanyol from the grass, but from more than 600 kilometers away and through a monitor. In the VOR room in Las Rozas, assisting Jesús Gil Manzano, who will be the main referee of the match against Elche. But, when in doubt, eyes will immediately turn to a braid that never goes unnoticed in your encounters with parrots.