FC Barcelona visits Celta de Vigo this Sunday, November 9 (9:00 PM CEST) for matchday 12 of LaLiga, and the match will be officiated by Javier Alberola Rojas. The referee from La Mancha was appointed by the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA) along with Valentín Pizarro Gómez (VAR)

This season, Alberola Rojas has refereed 5 matches, one of them being the Madrid derby in which Atlético crushed Real Madrid at the Metropolitano (5-2). That day, the referee showed 9 yellow cards, 4 of them to the 'Merengue' team. In addition, he awarded a penalty to the 'Colchoneros', and also disallowed a goal for them after a VAR review.

In 25/26, the 34-year-old referee, with LaLiga experience since 2017/18, has not officiated any Celta or Barcelona matches. In fact, he has not refereed the Blaugrana team since matchday 36 of 23/24. The previous season, the Catalans did not see the referee from La Mancha in the tournament.

How has Barça fared in matches officiated by Alberola Rojas?

Alberola Rojas during Barça-Real Sociedad (1-2) in May 2023

In his last precedent with Alberola Rojas, Barça defeated Almería (0-2) with a brace from Fermín López. The match had no major controversies and only one player was cautioned during the 90 minutes (Vitor Roque).

In total, the judge from La Mancha has officiated 10 league matches for the Blaugrana team, with a record of 7 wins, 2 draws, and 1 loss (1-2 against Real Sociedad in 2023) in favor of the Catalans. For Celta, on the other hand, he has officiated 15 times with a balanced record

The Galicians have 5 wins, an equal number of draws and losses with Alberola Rojas as the main referee. The last precedent dates back to matchday 35 of the 24/25 season, when the Galicians thrashed Villarreal (3-0). This will be the first time the referee officiates a Celta-Barça match in the League.

Barça's record in matches officiated by Javier Alberola Rojas:

  1. Games: 10
  2. Wins: 7
  3. Draws: 2
  4. Losses: 1

Barça seeks to break its bad away streak against Celta 

For the team led by Hansi Flick, the visit to Celta comes at a complex moment in the season. Barça went almost eleven months without losing away from home in La Liga, but they lost in their last two away games against Sevilla (4-1) and Real Madrid (2-1). Furthermore, they also failed to win in the Champions League against Bruges (3-3).

Balaídos has also been a difficult venue for the Catalans in the last five years. The Barcelona team only won in two of their last five visits to Vigo, where last season they drew (2-2) a match they were leading by two goals in the 83rd minute.

This Sunday, Barça needs to secure three points against Celta to try and close the 5-point lead Real Madrid holds at the top. Los Blancos will have an uncomfortable away game against Rayo in Vallecas (16:15 CEST), hours before the end of the matchday that precedes the third break of the 25/26 season.