Barcelona v Elche marks next step for rising referee Alejandro Quintero Gonzalez

Alejandro Quintero Gonzalez will take charge of Barcelona’s La Liga opener against Elche on Sunday, just weeks before he begins his international refereeing career.

The 33-year-old has been appointed by the Spanish refereeing committee to officiate the match at Martinez Valero, which will be played as part of the opening round of the Spanish top flight.

Quintero Gonzalez is due to become an international referee on 1 January, when he will join fellow Catalan Victor Garcia Verdura on the list of Spanish officials approved to oversee matches at international level.

Sunday’s fixture will therefore represent an important stage in the referee’s development as he prepares to move into a new phase of his career. Guillermo Cuadra Fernandez has been appointed as the video assistant referee for the game.

The match will also add another chapter to Quintero Gonzalez’s record with both Barcelona and Elche.

It will be the fourth Barcelona game he has refereed since being promoted to La Liga for the 2024-25 season. Barcelona have won two of the previous three matches under his supervision, with their only defeat coming against Leganes.

That loss was recorded in the 17th round of last season, when Leganes beat Barcelona 1-0 at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys, also known as Montjuic Olympic Stadium.

Barcelona responded with a convincing victory in Quintero Gonzalez’s next match involving the club. They defeated Real Sociedad 4-0 in the 26th round of the same campaign, before winning again in the most recent game he officiated for them.

That match ended with Barcelona beating Mallorca 3-0.

Quintero Gonzalez has also overseen three previous matches involving Elche. The club won two of those games and drew the other, giving them an unbeaten record with him in charge.

His most recent Elche appointment came in the round of 32 of last season’s Copa del Rey, when Elche secured a 1-0 victory over Eibar.

Sunday’s meeting will be the fourth occasion on which Quintero Gonzalez has refereed each club, but its significance extends beyond those previous records. It will be the first time he has officiated two matches in domestic top-flight competitions during the same period.

The appointment comes at the beginning of what is expected to be an exceptional season for the young official. After establishing himself in La Liga following his promotion for the 2024-25 campaign, he is now preparing to begin his international career at the start of the new year.

His assignment at Martinez Valero will thus offer an early test at the opening of the domestic season while also serving as a landmark moment before his elevation to the international refereeing list.