2023-24 UEFA Champions League Round of 16, second legs. First set of referee assignments.
5 March 2024
21:00 CET - Munich (Fußball Arena München)
FC Bayern München (GER) - SS Lazio (ITA)
Referee: Slavko Vinčić SVN
Assistant Referee 1: Tomaž Klančnik SVN
Assistant Referee 2: Andraž Kovačič SVN
Fourth Official: Matej Jug SVN
Assistant Referee 1: Tomaž Klančnik SVN
Assistant Referee 2: Andraž Kovačič SVN
Fourth Official: Matej Jug SVN
Video Assistant Referee: Nejc Kajtazovič SVN
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Rade Obrenovič SVN
UEFA Referee Observer: Martin Ingvarsson SWE
UEFA Delegate: Frédéric Veraghaenne BEL
UEFA Referee Observer: Martin Ingvarsson SWE
UEFA Delegate: Frédéric Veraghaenne BEL
Real Sociedad de Fútbol (ESP) - Paris Saint Germain FC (FRA)
Referee: Michael Oliver ENG
Assistant Referee 1: Stuart Burt ENG
Assistant Referee 2:Daniel Cook ENG
Fourth Official: Robert Jones ENG
Video Assistant Referee: Stuart Attwell ENG
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: David Coote ENG
UEFA Referee Observer: Lucílio Cardoso Cortez Batista POR
UEFA Delegate: Edgars Pukinsks LVA
UEFA Referee Observer: Lucílio Cardoso Cortez Batista POR
UEFA Delegate: Edgars Pukinsks LVA
Surprised with Oliver in a return game in the Champions League, it hadn't happened in a while, I think the last one was in the controversial Real Madrid x Juventus in 2017/18.
ReplyDeleteDoes the lack of second leg CL matches for Oliver mean that UEFA have no faith/ trust in him previously and allocating this game mean they now do trust him to officiate big games?
DeleteMy predictions for Wednesday:
ReplyDeleteReal Madrid x Leipzig: Daniele Orsato København x Man City: Ivan Kružliak. Seems like obvious choices to me.
Orsato under special observation by Kuipers? ;-)
DeleteDon’t think so.
Road to the CL final Vincic
ReplyDelete🙏
DeleteLooking at the rotation of referees in the Champions League finals, it is clear that this season's final is Vincic, especially because there are no barriers to his nationality. I just don't expect him to not do anything stupid along the way.
Delete*I just expect (I wrote in a hurry)
DeleteI hope not
DeleteMakkelie have no barriers to his nationality as well, I dont expect to see PSV reaching UCL final. Same for Kovacs…
DeleteI noticed a lot of Slovenian propaganda (“coloured comments”) on this blog lately. Decisions made by the Slovenian VAR were heavily defended and certain competitors e.g. Taylor/Makkelie etc. were already attached with nonsense arguments (“mentally not strong enough”…)
ReplyDeleteDo your thing, because its a waste of energy. Performance level is the most important. However, it does make the blog less enjoyable to read. Dear admins, you may consider to turn off the anonymous comments, because the blog is losing its credibility. This happens every year. In 2022, Makkelie was praised and Turpin burned. Last year, there was a Polish propaganda. There are a few senior users with an objective opinion, but >80% has an agenda.
Even staying at your words, the propaganda can come from registered users, so disallowing the anonymous comments wouldn't be a "full solution" for the issue you are presenting.
DeleteIt is like removing the freedom to all people only because some of that commit bad actions.
Time will surely come when we will close anonymous comments again (I feel that, especially in case of hot games), but I don't think what you are reporting is strictly related to the solution you want to suggest us.
It's up to people to decide what to write, we can only moderate comments, and delete the insultive / abusive ones.
I have account but i cant login in my browser the site blocked it. You have solution for that?
DeleteRegarding Gil Manzano's performance last night in Valencia - Real Madrid, the whole situation at the end could have been avoided with a correct stoppage time management. In my opinion, the 7 minutes of additional time were way too insufficient.
ReplyDeleteWe had in the 2nd half:
- a 3 minutes VAR check for offside at Vini Jr's goal for 2-2;
- a 3 minutes pause after Diakhaby's horrible injury, who had to be stretchered out;
- 6 different moments of break for player substitutions;
Considering all other "regular" interruptions for fouls / cards / etc, the match should have had at least 10 minutes of additional time.
Also, we had another VAR check in stoppage time after the phantom penalty for Valencia (correctly overturned), when the game was also stopped for 2-3 minutes, so the game should have been played until min 90+12.
Instead, Manzano gave the impression that he just wants to get over with the match as quick as possible and it has completely backfired to him, whistling the end in the worst possible moment.
So we have Vincic, an experienced Elite in München, as one could have guessed (but maybe not exactly the Slovenian). Game is OK for him, I think it could be extremely challenging with Lazio defending the first leg win rather than attacking and German side trying everything. We will see how things will go for Vincic!
ReplyDeleteImportant remark about the Slovenian VAR, after at least two controversial (non) interventions we discussed on the blog, on previous games, it seems committee supported his decisions.
I also think that staying silent was correct regarding Jovanovic penalty, there could be more discussion in the other game, Freiburg - Lens with Obrenovic, but still, a penalty that the main referee had absolutely to whistle (Obrenovic will now work as AVAR).
In the other game a standard appointment with Oliver, not that much to add there.
The VMO’s from Slovenia, Spain, Netherlands and Italy are always backed, no matter what, because they have a countryman in the Refcom. It’s not fair tbh.
DeleteFind Chefren’s comment around Oliver’s appointment being standard inconsistent with a previous comment from someone saying it’s his first since RM v Juve when he sent off Buffon. Was the original post incorrect and if it was correct why would it be standard and not worthy of comment if he has not had a CL 2nd leg appointment for 6 plus years
DeleteOne mistake from Stuart Attwell in Dortmund vs Ajax and he was thrown under the bus and lost his World Cup place
DeleteOn-topic: I'm a little bit surprised by Vincic's appointment. Yesterday, he refereed his first match since December 12th. And just 3 days later already in the Champions League. That is only possible if you are Slovenian. :)
ReplyDeleteI certainly count Vincic to the pool of UCL final candidates. His biggest asset is that he is almost never involved in controversial incidents. On the other hand, never a true leader on the pitch in top games. Rather in survive mode, try to stay in the background at all costs, saving cards, mediocre foul detection, so I'm curious to see how things will go on Tuesday. The scoreline will determine the difficulty of this match. If Bayern scores an early goal, it will be in favor of the referee. If that doesn't happen and Lazio does everything they can to maintain their lead, it could be a very ugly and difficult game.
Good luck to the referee team!
Someone was writing about comments with agenda? This one proves it. Cry baby cry.
DeleteWhat the …? Delete that Slovenian comment please, this is not normal.
DeleteBy the way, @ 11:51, my post is called “constructive feedback”. Something you obviously can’t provide!
DeleteIf you want, I can also write some constructive feedback about Taylor, Makkelie or Kovacs. As I’m not convinced with them either in 2024 so far. Stop your agenda. Seriously. If Vincic deserves the final, he will get it. It’s as simply as that. Meine Gute.
The best blog out there for us who actually follow the news involving officials. Hopefully something more visual will be there in the future, youtube or something.
ReplyDeletePrepare for Michael Oliver in a Newcastle shirt pics start popping up if he does a major call against PSG haha. Luckily, there probably won't be any score changing decisions.
ReplyDeleteVincic with Italian teams in all his 4 CL games this season.
ReplyDeleteHis only Bayern game so far was also a home second leg, where they had lost the first leg 0-1 (and then drew that game, so they went out against Villareal).
Real Madrid Leipzig
ReplyDeleteOrsato
Meler
Makkeile
Kobenhavn Manchester City
Espasn Eskas
IMO it’s incredible for Di Bello after catasthropic performance he still post in his ig :) I think if this performance happened in UEFA/AFC his ig would be gone.
ReplyDeleteOliver will not be able to handle this game.
ReplyDeleteThis isn't the EPL where he's too comfortable.
He has refereed a wc qf so I’m not sure what your thinking here
DeleteIf he cannot cope why do UEFA give him the game, he is appointed to EC and WC tournaments so they must have some faith in him, especially as he is an Elite level referee
ReplyDeleteAnyone know what situation currently happened to Di Bello? In his ig story his wife defend him.
ReplyDeleteFor now, the only thing that is certain is that Rocchi has decided to give a very light punishment after Friday night's poor performance: we are talking about only one month's suspension.
DeleteA few incidents in the Hearts v Celtic game in the Scottish Premiership. Don Robertson referee. John Beaton VAR.
ReplyDeleteCeltic awarded a penalty on field which was supported. Reasonably soft but probably not enough to overturn.
Red card for Celtic for SFP. YC given on field. Good intervention, bolt makes contact with face.
Penalty for Hearts after OFR for handball. Harsh, but under the current rules, it is a punishable handball.
Also very poor to see the Celtic manager come out and question the competence of the officials after the match
So, the competence of referees should not be questioned? In all the other jobs, including footballer and manager, the competence is always questioned and they get fired or sold but the referee cannot be questioned and is not responsible for anything??? It is also forbidden for journalists to ask them questions... I think that the impudence and the hypocrisy of that situation do not correspond with the values of our societies nowadays. All this may sound way too harsh but the truth is that the level of refereeing is so poor in comparison to the level of football itself, that it kills the joy of watching a football anymore.
DeleteIn our world, the respect doesn’t exist (teachers, referees, police men’s decision are always under preasure and discussion by person without any competence). That’s a fact and... a shame
DeleteA referee doesn't get to the elite level of sport if they are incompetent. Yes they make mistakes and mangers have a right to complain about mistakes.
DeleteThey do not however have the right to lambast referees and declare them incompetent because their team lost. Especially in a game where VAR did its job.
"Incompetent" means completely incapable of.doung their job. That is not an accusation that should just be thrown around. It's really poor
My job requires to watch football games almost 24/7 and I can claim that the bigger part of the referees are incapable of doing their job. What do I mean? You can be well prepared theoretically but most of the situations during the football match you do not really SEE. It is because of the distance, speed, bodies in front of you etc. You must FEEL these situations. And to be able to feel them you must have good football understanding which comes by playing and watching a lot of football. And here comes the biggest problem for the referees. Most of them do not possess even basic football knowledge because they have never played football, so they don't know which movements or contacts are natural and which are exaggerated. They don't know what kind of misconducts are most irritating for the players inside the pitch and for the football audience, they don't feel the right moment to interfere and to prevent a conflict situations and what is even worse, sometimes they endanger the players' safety by inflaming the atmosphere with their incompetent decisions. So, it is absolutely understandable why managers and players do not perceive the referees as football people and question their competence.
DeleteTotal and utter unmitigated nonsense. Every referee has played football at some level or other. In the match in question, the referee (Robertson) played at a high level with several professional clubs at youth level.
DeleteThis "referees have never played the game" argument is nonsense, and lazy. Also if you are watching football 24/7, I might suggest you get some sleep at some point, it might help you to not come out with such drivel (anonymous drivel at that)
While we say elite referees are not incompetent is there any doubts that some of them are “bent” or corrupt? There was a spell when some were & found out.
DeleteComplaints from United bench about possible foul before Man City equaliser, also would have been a red card for DOGSO. Not a foul whatsoever though, Rashford goes down far too easily trying to con the referee. Play on correct decision
ReplyDeleteImpressive performance from Andy Madley in Manchester Derby following on from his good performance in Man City-Chelsea 2 weeks ago. Demonstrated that he's currently a safe pair of hands for the big matches
ReplyDeleteI think he deserved the FA cup final
DeleteHe's a contender for me alongside Brooks for me. If he keeps this level up he'll be hard to ignore for sure
DeleteAndy Marley would be a good bet especially as the team he supports are out of the FA Cup. John Brooks may miss out if Leicester City make the final as he is a LCFC fan. Come on you Foxes!
DeleteJohn Moss was the last official to referee the FA cup final before the EFL Cup final. That was 2015 and 2018. If they were to stick to this unwritten rule then Attwell is the only option or Kavanagh but no one has ever done both in the same season.
DeleteJohn Brooks would be my choice because no one else is consistent enough. Personally though I would give it to Oliver again and scrap the only once rule. I just don’t think any other referee currently deserves it.
I suspect Coote will get it though
I agree with the multiple fa cup finals thing. However, Michael Oliver and Anthony Taylor have already done it twice. Also, MO could miss out if NUFC make the final
DeleteIt should be the best official not “the next in line”
DeleteDon’t be surprised when it’s David Coote or Stuart Attwell- both would be political appointments
Or Darren England
DeleteDarren England won't get it after Liverpool case... He doesn't get many game times this season due to that. Judging from the appointments, either I agree that either Andy Madley or John Brooks will get it this season.
DeleteTonight I saw Halil Umut Meler. IT was not best evening for him. It looks no selfconfidence after what happened. I hope he will recover soon, EURO2024 I gave him not many chance to be selected. He missed tonight clear red card (again VAR, this season already 9 times VAR) for him and I think he missed also a penalty for Besiktas.
ReplyDeleteMariani with three soft yellows to start in naples. Then he stands in the way of chiesa, stopping him getting a shot away on the edge of the box. The standard of refereeing in Italy really is poor at the moment
ReplyDeleteNot Mariani's best season.
DeleteNot extremely poor, but well, surely below expectations.
Just as it was for Di Bello (but Mariani performed much better than him), he was assigned for this match today after a series of good performances in serie A middle games, but today on his return in a big match he didn't give a good impression again . He doesn't seem to find the compromise for a total reading of a game.
The first yellow, to Vlahovic, to open the cards, is wrong or at least not coming from the best management, in my opinion: he makes a gesture to the player that it was the third foul in a few minutes, but the previous two had been done by other players, so it makes no sense to give the cards for reiteration. He probably considered it as yellow regardless of this motivation (and maybe for SPA), but by doing so he caused confusion about the motivation.
He should have seen the penalty live, not too difficult, he also made the gesture but a wrong decision, play on.
Poor added time management.
I think that he suffered the failure to advance in his career when he was doing quite well about a year ago, and the consequent treatment by UEFA, at least for that moment, he has still to fully recover. But we are on different levels than Di Bello.
Michael Oliver had been in a good form in some games I watched him (EPL) and I believe he will do his best in the Champions league game
ReplyDeleteThe penalty area incident in Manchester derby. IMO, it's a reckless tackle -> penalty and YC should've been awarded.
ReplyDeletehttps://streamable.com/na9zla
Perfect tackle, if that's a penalty then we might as well not play anymore.
DeleteThis tackle perfectly illustrates "acting with disregard to the danger to, or consequences for, an opponent", imo. That the ball is played doesn't automatically mean the tackle is perfect. Imagine the attacker's leg being locked a little bit more and we have a leg breaking tackle - SFP. Well, I'm aware in England it's play-on, of course, but I wonder what would be UEFA's interpretation.
DeleteHad that been a defender I suspect a penalty may have been awarded in UEFA, In England penalty here is totally wrong
DeleteIn England, very few would consider this a foul. Almost all would say it's a clean, and very good, tackle. Never a foul here. Madley had a decent if fairly simple game (first foul 26th min, in a derby!)
DeleteNO PENALTY
DeleteMeanwhile, probably di Bello's choice to put up a post with a picture of Lazio-Milan and Maneskin's song "Zitti e buoni" (shut up and behave) in the background was not very smart. I think refs shouldn't use Instagram or other social media, it can be dangerous
ReplyDeleteMoreover, Maneskin are well known to be pro As Roma, and the wrongdoing was made against their fierce rivals Lazio damaged by his refereeing against AC Milan, so it was a very bad faux pas!
DeleteDi Bello has deleted the post.
DeleteOliver is a good referee. In the EPL he does well. All referees skills are not equally at the top level. Oliver's skill in handling dissent and players protests at decisions that provoked them are not his best, especially in Champions League knock outs. Very few Elite referees can sort things out quickly without adding fuel to the fire. IF the Spanish side makes a game of it with PSG at home, it will be a challenge.
ReplyDeleteRocchi's statements on the matches of the last few days were very bad, with his attempt to cover up all the mistakes. Rocchi said he did not want to hide the truth, but then considered all the decisions made on the pitch to be correct and glossed over errors that were objectively not defensible (e.g. di Bello's third red card). As usual, no self-criticism from the AIA, sectarian on the same level as the football teams that attack Italian referees after every match to justify their defeats.
ReplyDeleteWhy is nobody here considering Makkelie a CL final candidate? He is one of the best referees in the world and was THE best in 2022 when he deserved it but was robbed of it by you know who
ReplyDeleteTbh he’s my number one pick as long as psg aren’t in final.this shouldn’t be the case but we all know politics.the game agaisnt real sociedad was the perfect opportunity for makkelie to be assigned psg again
DeleteHe should get it even if PSG are in it and the president should be locked up
DeleteI think he was a ucl final candidate last year but he blew it in uel semifinal. So they had to give it to Marciniak who wasn't planned for the final considering he got the semifinal.
DeleteBecause Makkelie is not Makkelie anymore, that’s why. Look Marciniak what a powerful referee, a leader, a boss. Makkelie 2022 is passed, you have to look for now!!! Now are more beter refs with fantastic personality and fitness. New generation are coming, (plan Rosetti, Kuipers, Velasco, Sayn), they invest for the future, that’s what I like from this ref committee. Of course he will get his CL games, but for the big CL final the names will be in my opinion Vincic, Taylor. For the Euro2024 this will be Marciniak or Orsato
DeleteLet's be honest, Orsato will turn 49 in November. He is well past it and only being saved for one game, EURO final. Hmmm almost feels like we have seen this before.
DeleteAs for Makkelie and Marciniak, Makkelie has been significantly better for getting big decisions right, Marciniak has made big errors in the past, Makkelie was in the form of his life in 2022. Refereeing is based on form, who wouldn't be the most confident referee in the world after getting WC final? And who wouldn't be suffering with a bit of lack of confidence after being the best referee for 12-18 months yet not getting 1 final and mistreatment in the WC? Is a joke
Both excellent but Makkelie very unlucky and has every right to be frustrated.
Neither Vincic or Taylor are anywhere near as good as Makkelie. Both can be extremely erratic in foul detection, especially Anthony Taylor who ends up dishing out the cards very easily towards the end of both first and second halves
DeleteOur friend at 09:28 is from Slovenia and a Vinčić-fanboy. It’s obvious which referee is seen as Vinčić biggest competitor. The referee that is not deemed very strong mentally ;-)
DeleteThe same anonymous person has defended Kajtazović‘ non-intervention in Obrenovič his game.
Fanboy’s next project is watching Eredivisie and Premier League, to report all incidents in Taylor and Makkelie games.
Complicates moments for spanish Referees. Gil Manzano, the most important Referee there is not in a good level. The future is gray…
ReplyDeleteTotally agree
ReplyDeleteWhat is the difference between Oliver and Taylor? Why do people compare and think Taylor is better than Oliver?? Most of Oliver’s games are clean with no controversies compared to Taylor who complicates games himself
ReplyDeleteAgreed, Anthony Taylor has many matches where he ends loosing control through his own poor foul detection and results in many bookings and lots of cards for dissent
DeleteI think in UCL column anonimos comment must be disallowed because conspiracy theories and the agenda are annoying like comment above.
ReplyDeleteIt become too much, agreed.
DeleteIndeed, there should be a post about off-topics, like domestic leagues. Otherwise it becomes too chaotic. And, in general, anonymous comments should not exist
DeleteRespect Danny makkeile
ReplyDeleteRespect Halil umut meler
Nyberg with a Sunday appointment in the Swedish Cup so I don't expect him in UCL next week. Most likely going straight into the quarter-finals which is a big show of trust from UEFA
ReplyDeleteI think that after having seen Guida and Eskas in Round of 16, Nyberg in CL is indeed a "must", so if not next week, well, quite sure directly QFs. We will see which game.
DeleteVincic seems to have serious issues with positioning tonight, interfering with play too much (and in the 2nd case even stopping a quite promising attack of the German side).
ReplyDeleteVincic is unlucky blocking the the game, but he is lucky having an easy game so far.
ReplyDeleteLet's hope (for him) it stays that way.
Anyone heard of Croatia's dealing with VARleaks problem?
ReplyDeleteThey will appoint foreign Elite referees for 4 remaining derbies.
Names that are mentioned in media are Vincic,Jovanovic,Jug, Peljto,all of Elites from neighbouring countries.
If Oliver was in a home match I'm sure both 28' 45+5' would have got 2YC for DtR (Kicking the ball away). Excellent spot on the net issue by the team however.
ReplyDeleteEasy enough half for Vincic
45+5 is a miss if we are honest. But one can understand Oliver didnt wanna make his life hard
DeleteThere was a very strong, don't do that again signal given. I don't think Uefa would want a RC for that, even if others would
DeleteI didn't expect a so easy game for Vincic TBH! At least so far, Lazio definitely gave up without trying it.
ReplyDeleteFirst KO tiè of PSG has been definitely Easy for both referees of First and second leg. It wasn't fully expected, I think. We saw French side complicate things many times. For sure a more challenging quarterfinsl Is expected. Not that much tò Say about today games and that's what committee wants.
ReplyDeleteTwo good onside and one good offside by Michael Oliver's ARs tonight, all there is to say tonight
ReplyDeleteYou can only referee what is in front of you and based on this I think the Slovenian did a very good job.y
ReplyDeleteCorrectly rejected Lazio's penalty appeal (I think there wouldn't have been a VAR intervention in case of penalty award, though) and all mandatory cautions issued.
Good feeling as to when caution Lazio players for frustration fouls in the latter stages - very quick and firm reactions prevented possible conflicts / retaliations. Also good warning to 9BAY after a holding offence in the first half.
Blocking a pass in the first half was a very unfortunate incident as he slipped over and therefore was unable to avoid the contact. Fortunately, no injury there!
I liked Jug's focused attitude, too!
Thats what I saw too. Refereeing crew was well accepted. Vincic also was very proactive in preventing dissents and other unsporting behaviour. No issues for the Slovenian team at all!
DeleteOT: According Croatian media, Orsato is a probable candidate to referee Croatian league derby Hajduk-Dinamo.
ReplyDeleteThe decision is that the games between 3 leading teams in the league until the end of the season will be with foreign referees from Elite category, so lets see who will be appointed in the end.
About the chance to show a econd YC for kicking ball away by Oliver in two circumstances:
ReplyDelete1) https://streambug.org/cv/38bbb8
2) https://streambug.org/cv/4ed998
This would have been correct strictly by book, but in reality just a way to complicate a game and to take an enormous risk. One can say that according to "wise refereeing" both were cases in which it was possible to manage this behavior. The action of kicking ball away must be very blatant and after watching the decision by referee - reacting at it, in this case you can't escape. Buth in such situations, this happens also in Italy for what this can be an argument, in a configuration like this (action before knowing the decision by referee, in case a YC and not really blatant kick of the ball), one can always close his eyes. Committee will not care at all about that, the incidents in which they WANT a YC for that are very different, you can also mention the rather very fair nature of this game.
I think it's an unwritten rule to not caution a player for kicking the ball away after whistle if that player is being cautioned for a foul - arguments being the referee has to write it down in his notebook and the play has to be restarted after whistle. In case of the players being cautioned earlier in the game, they should've been cautioned for blatant DtR in both above cases.
Delete