Despite Messi’s words, Lahoz admits. The worst match of my life was against Barcelona

Retired Spanish referee Mateo Lahoz has admitted that November 2022’s Barcelona-Espanyol derby was “the worst match of his life”, rather than Argentina’s controversial 2022 World Cup quarter-final clash with Holland, stressing that his mental state was not the main cause of his mental state.

While hosting the Vaia Faina podcast, Lahoz recalled some of the most controversial situations he faced during his refereeing career.

Messi’s words affected him

The referee clarified that the Argentina-Netherlands match, in which he received 17 yellow cards and one red card, caused the biggest controversy of his career, and after the end of the match, Lionel Messi said:

Lahoz admitted that the Argentine star’s words influenced him, saying: “I have never taken football as a personal matter, but Messi could have conveyed this opinion to him earlier. I officiated over 50 matches for him and that was the last game. And I thought: improve”.

Mental fatigue and tense derby

The former referee was candid about his feelings, explaining that he returned to Spain after the World Cup game to rest due to mental fatigue and was then appointed to take charge of Barcelona-Espanyol, one of Spain’s most tense derbies, especially after the suspension of Robert Lewandowski, who was sent off against Osasuna on November 8.

Lahoz said about that confrontation. “It was the worst meeting of my life.”

He explained that the main reason was not the events of the meeting itself, but that he was “not in a good psychological state”.

The players took advantage of his psychological state

He added that Barcelona and Espanyol players took advantage of his mental state, saying: “Many players started telling me.

The referee noted that such behavior is common for players, explaining: “It was important for me to joke with them and answer them with a sense of humor. If I resorted to dialogue, I used fewer cards, and vice versa.”

14 cards and 2 parcels

The match ended in a 1-1 draw and Lahoz returned to being the most prominent figure in the match, sending off Jordi Alba and Vinny Souza and dishing out a total of 14 yellow cards.

Lahoz retired from refereeing on 4 June 2023, after officiating his last Spanish league match between Mallorca and Rayo Vallecano, and he currently works as a referee analyst for the Movistar Plus network coverage.