Antonio Mateu Lahoz will not referee a LaLiga fixture this weekend after dishing out a flurry of cards in Barcelona's ill-tempered 1-1 draw with Espanyol last Saturday.

Lahoz was widely criticised for his performance in a fiery Catalan derby on New Year's Eve, having sent Jordi Alba and Vinicius Souza off and booked another 11 players along with Barca head coach Xavi.

Espanyol were perhaps fortunate to avoid going down to nine men in the aftermath of Souza's dismissal, with a VAR review saving Leandro Cabrera after he was initially shown a red card for an apparent stamp on Robert Lewandowski.

Having been dismissed for two bookable offences, Barcelona defender Alba said Lahoz had forgotten about his first yellow card when he issued a second for dissent.

Lahoz was in the thick of the action once again on Wednesday, sending Sevilla boss Jorge Sampaoli to the stands just 18 minutes into their 5-0 Copa del Rey win over Linares.

On Thursday, the Spanish Football Federation issued a list of refereeing appointments for the 16th round of fixtures of the LaLiga season, with Lahoz conspicuous by his absence.

Lahoz was described as "useless" by Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez after taking charge of the Albiceleste's World Cup quarter-final win against the Netherlands last month.

Lionel Messi also made his feelings on Lahoz's performance clear after the 45-year-old showed 15 yellow cards at Lusail Stadium, saying the official was "not up to it".

Espanyol have described a decision to delay a suspension for Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski as a "flagrant injustice".

Lewandowski was dismissed for two bookable offences in Barca's final game before the World Cup break in November – a 2-1 win at Osasuna.

The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) initially hit Lewandowski with an extended three-match ban due to an alleged gesture he made towards referee Jesus Gil Manzano, but his punishment was put on hold last week following a complaint to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Lewandowski was therefore able to play in Saturday's 1-1 draw at Camp Nou – an ill-tempered affair in which referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz showed 17 yellow cards, including one for Barca coach Xavi, sending off Jordi Alba and Vinicius Souza.

Despite claiming a valuable point in their bid to avoid relegation, Espanyol have challenged the eligibility of Lewandowski to play.

A statement on the club's website read: "RCD Espanyol has submitted a letter of complaint to the Royal Federation of Spanish Football (RFEF) to challenge the match against FC Barcelona for improper alignment.

"Before the start of the match, the club notified in good faith the referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz, like the RFEF itself, about the presence in the rival eleven of Robert Lewandowski, who had to serve a penalty after his expulsion for a double yellow in the previous game of the championship. 

"RCD Espanyol, as announced on the eve of the match, will use all the resources at its disposal to defend its interests and those of our fans, aware that this flagrant injustice puts the essence of our competition at risk, and that this injustice it is based on a hasty resolution with obvious legal deficiencies."

Lewandowski failed to find the net against Diego Martinez's men, though he was involved in one notable incident when Leandro Cabrera was shown a red card for appearing to stamp on the striker – though Lahoz reversed the decision following a VAR check.

Any ban for Lewandowski would represent a severe blow for Barca, with the Poland striker scoring 13 goals in 15 LaLiga appearances.

Barca visit third-tier side Intercity in the Copa del Rey on Wednesday, before facing Atletico Madrid in LaLiga and taking on Real Betis in the Supercopa de Espana semi-finals.

Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini blasted the "absolute confusion" of the refereeing performance in his side's Europa League quarter-final exit to RB Leipzig on Thursday.

La Dea had high hopes following their draw in the first leg, but a Christopher Nkunku brace handed Leipzig a 2-0 win instead, with the German side going through 3-1 on aggregate.

With Atlanta down 1-0 on Thursday, however, Antonio Mateu Lahoz waved away what appeared to be a handball from Leipzig's Dani Olmo and also waved away the consequent call for a VAR review.

Nkunku then punished Atalanta for a second time in transition, while Gasperini was left to bemoan the lack of consistency in refereeing interpretation and decision-making with the tie in the balance.

"The strange thing is that he [Mateu Lahoz] gave a punishment that for me was a less obvious foul than it was a penalty. There is absolute confusion on handballs," he said. "The referee himself, in 30 seconds, evaluates the first instance more serious than the second which is much clearer.

"Well, it's not like you can cancel it [from context]. We had a good match, we conceded something, as is normal in these matches. There are goal situations on both sides in Europe. Everyone has an important attacking quality. It wasn't the defence that penalised us."

According to the 64-year-old, the penalty reinforced Atalanta's need to chase the result, which played into the fast, dynamic and ultimately reactive RB Leipzig's hands.

"It is always like this," he said. "They have pace and speed, they play very tightly and then go on the counter-attack.

"Sometimes they do them very well, we attacked for a very long time and unfortunately in recent weeks we have had difficulty in finding the final pass, the decisive shot. Even if for long stretches it was an excellent match for Atalanta."

Champions League qualification is likely unattainable now for La Dea, who sit 12 points off fourth-placed Juventus in Serie A, but are also four points behind Lazio in the Conference League playoff spot. They face Hellas Verona on Monday.

Referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz has been ruled out of Saturday's clash between Real Madrid and Barcelona, and his replacement could raise a few eyebrows.

Experienced whistler Lahoz had been assigned El Clasico but on Friday it was revealed he is suffering with a muscle injury, with Jesus Gil Manzano named to take on the job instead.

The 44-year-old Lahoz officiated in Wednesday's Champions League clash between Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain.

The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) announced: "The refereeing committee for professional competition (CACP) has changed, due to a muscle injury, the appointment of referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz, the referee initially appointed to direct the match between Real Madrid and Barcelona on matchday 30 of the Primera Division. His replacement will be Jesus Gil Manzano."

Manzano is the referee who showed Barcelona captain Lionel Messi the first red card of his club career in January's Supercopa de Espana final defeat to Athletic Bilbao.

Messi swung an arm at Asier Villalibre in the final moments of extra time, and the Argentinian was dismissed following a VAR review.

Barcelona boss Ronald Koeman refused to discuss the referee after that match, saying: "It's better if I don't talk."

Manzano also previously red-carded former Barcelona superstars Luis Suarez and Neymar during their Camp Nou careers.