Referee José María Sánchez Martínez will officiate his third El Clasico since the start of the 2017/18 campaign on Sunday, La Liga have confirmed.
The official took charge of the second leg of last season’s Spanish Super Cup, which Real Madrid won 2-0, while also being the man in the middle as Barcelona won 3-0 in the Spanish capital last December.
Sánchez Martínez has officiated 13 Madrid games and has sent off two Blancos players in that time – Dani Carvajal in last season’s El Clasico and Mateo Kovacic in a 2016 draw with Valencia.
Diario AS cites the referee never sending off a player from the Blaugrana, while last season’s Super Cup tie was the club’s only defeat which he oversaw.
