Tuesday, 26 August 2025

Champions League 2025/26 - Referee Appointments for Play-Offs (Second Leg, III)

2025-26 UEFA Champions League, Play-Offs, Second Legs, games to be played on  26 August 2025.



Tuesday 26 August 2025

18:45 CET - Almaty (Almaty Ortalyq stadion)
QAİRAT FK (KAZ) - CELTIC FC (SCO)
Referee: Maurizio Mariani ITA
Assistant Referee 1: Daniele Bindoni ITA
Assistant Referee 2: Alberto Tegoni ITA 
Fourth Official: Matteo Marchetti ITA
Video Assistant Referee: Marco Di Bello ITA
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Valerio Marini ITA 
UEFA Referee Observer: David Fernández Borbalán ESP
UEFA Delegate: Georges Lüchinger LIE

21:00 CET - Limassol (Alphamega Stadium)
PAFOS FC (CYP) - FK CRVENA ZVEZDA (SRB)
Referee: Michael Oliver ENG
Assistant Referee 1: Stuart Burt ENG
Assistant Referee 2: Lee Betts ENG
Fourth Official: Andrew Madley ENG
Video Assistant Referee: Jarred Gillett AUS
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Stuart Attwell ENG 
UEFA Referee Observer: Matteo Simone Trefoloni ITA
UEFA Delegate: Michal Mertinyák SVK

21:00 CET - Klagenfurt am Wörthersee (28 Black Arena)
SK STURM GRAZ (AUT) - FK BODØ/GLIMT (NOR)
Referee: Szymon Marciniak POL
Assistant Referee 1: Tomasz Listkiewicz POL
Assistant Referee 2: Adam Kupsik POL 
Fourth Official: Paweł Raczkowski POL
Video Assistant Referee: Tomasz Kwiatkowski POL
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Wojciech Myc POL
UEFA Referee Observer: William Young SCO
UEFA Delegate: Jan Willem van Dop NED

38 comments:

  1. Marciniak Graz Bodo
    Oliver at Pafos Crvena Zvezda

    Mariana a bad one ... the rest are top referees.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I was convinced that Marciniak would handle Benfica Fenerbahce, surprising for me to see him in another game.
    Now it will be Vincic despite of his rather poor performance in his last game involving Portugal (but I agree with UEFA, this shouldn’t be a problem).

    Because Zwayer (another German after Siebert), Kovacs (repetition of Fenerbahce) and Turpin (repetition of Ingvarsson as observer, or is this common?) all seem unlikely to me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Vincic refereed the Galatasaray-Fenerbahce derby last year in turkey.. Fenerbahce's vice president has a team in slovenia (FK Maribor) Vincic is from Maribor. this was a hotly debated topic in Turkey..

      Delete
    2. I really hope Slavko Vincic won’t be assigned to Benfica–Fenerbahçe. Am I the only one? José “the Special One” Mourinho praised Vincic heavily after the Turkish derby, while slamming the Turkish 4th official. The same Mourinho who’s clearly well-connected in RefCom. I mean, just look at the warm hug with Rosetti after losing the Europa League final…

      If Vincic now gets this match, it almost looks like he’s there on Mourinho’s recommendation. UEFA’s RefCom approach is already more about keeping clubs happy than ensuring integrity. Referees criticized by coaches or players often don’t see those clubs again – which is bad enough. But the reverse, appointing “preferred” referees, might be even worse.

      And yes, add the Fenerbahçe–Maribor connection on top of that… Yikes.

      Delete
    3. And what was there not to praise?

      I mean that match Vincic did great,he deserved all the praise.

      He was not under any influence and did not collapse under Gala pressure unlike some of Turkish refs.

      Not a fan of his,I actually dont like his style,but you have to give credit when ref has a great performance.

      Delete
  3. Replies
    1. Antohny Taylor and mourinho 😂 No chance

      Delete
    2. Ahh of course! Great shout. 😂

      Delete
  4. Hello, can you tell me in how many hours will all the referees be known?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Replies
    1. He did a CL 3rd qualifying round 1st leg on the 5th of August

      Delete
  6. Seems like Zwayer had a rough season start, in Freiburg-Augsburg. A lot of fouls, cards and a PK whistled after VAR advise.

    ReplyDelete
  7. This weekend in UAE

    Sharjah - Al-Jazira
    Ramon Abatti, Bruno Boschilia, Nailton Oliveira (Diego Pombo Lopez)

    Dibba Fujaira - Al-Ain
    Halil Umut Meler, Ceyhun Sesigüzel, Abdullah Bora Özkara (Zorbay Küçük)

    Al-Wahda - Shabab Al-Ahli
    Espen Andreas Eskås, Jan Erik Engan, Anders Olav Dale (Kristoffer Hagenes)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Replies
    1. He refereed the game between Malmö - Copenhagen 2 weeks ago

      Delete
  9. Vincic benfica fener confirmed...

    ReplyDelete
  10. Croatian League

    The most important thing is the dissolution of the Referee Commission led by Bertard Layec. Layec will get a new chance, he will be the president of the new commission which will have only three members, unlike the dissolved one which had nine. The new members will be chosen by Layec himself.

    In general, no one is satisfied with Layec's work. The fact is, although he is certainly not the only one to blame, that the quality of refereeing has not improved since his arrival

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. in the last round, the strongest match was, surprisingly, refereed by a very inexperienced referee. it was only the fourth first league game for the boy. Despite the victory, the visiting team was not satisfied with the refereeing. What they regret the most is the absence of their best player (red and blue jersey number 10). Yesterday they published a video with situations in which, according to them, the mentioned player is not protected

      https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1124422159564966&surface_type=vod&referral_source=vod_deeplink_unit

      I am interested in whether these situations are correctly judged or not. The last situation is a foul in the attack of the aforementioned player. Given the very strict criteria the referee had, could he have let it go or is it always a foul?

      Delete
    2. It seems to me that the referee applied a particularly high standard of judgment, making some decisions (but not all, to be honest) that I disagree with entirely. However, the attacker's foul on the disallowed goal was correctly judged, IMO: a fair decision.

      Delete
  11. Very boring first half in Kazakhstan, almost nothing to do for Mariani...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 51' Indirect free kick for a save by Celtic keeper on a backpass.
      Following the free kick inside the box, penalty appeal for handball. Very quick check by VAR, it was assessed that arm wasn't in a punishabl position, close to body. But not many replays shown so far.

      Delete
    2. The IFK decision in 51' immediately followed by a potential penalty for handball (correctly rejected imo) were less boring that the first half I must say :)

      Delete
    3. Referee must've wanted to keep it boring as the Kairat goalkeeper holding onto the ball for 16 seconds near the end of the half...

      Delete
  12. Controversial no penalty call by Mariani and Italian crew, IMO it was clear penalty even in short distance.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No matter the distance when Italian referees judge a handball, all is about arm position, I didn't watch good replays honestly, but the assessment should be that there wasn't an increase of body 's volume (arm hit by ball close to body).

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    2. doesn't look like a penalty for me

      Delete
  13. Replies
    1. https://streambug.org/cv/8f5be7

      Delete
    2. Correct play-on as the arms don't make a player bigger.

      Using this discussion, I would like to hear your opinions about the penalty awarded after OFR by Hernández Hernández last week. It seems that VAR showed him a deceiving footage suggesting the arm was out of the body. The problem is that the angle shown was from side and it should be in line with the ball trajectory. It is very likely the hand didn't make a defending player bigger in that case, too.

      https://streambug.org/cv/435da9

      Delete
    3. Working link:
      https://files.fm/f/hjham99kg4

      Delete
  14. PAF-ZVE

    Min 44' Penalty appeal by the away side for a possible handball. Oliver correctly rejected it. VAR confirmed.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Not sure what's happening with Madley domestically, he hasn't been appointed to any matches this season in the first 3 weekends but appointed 4th official tonight so surely can't be injured?

    ReplyDelete
  16. I was very pleased to watch Michael Oliver performance at Pafos-Red Star. Impressed what I saw. Definetley English no 1 in the moment.

    ReplyDelete

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