2025/26 UEFA Champions League Matchday 5, referee assignments for the first set of games, to be played on 25 November 2025.
25 November 2025
18:45 CET - Amsterdam (Johan Cruijff ArenA)
AFC AJAX (NED) - SL BENFICA (POR)
Referee: Sven Jablonski GER
Assistant Referee 1: Eduard Beitinger GER
Assistant Referee 2: Stefan Lupp GER
Fourth Official: Tobias Reichel GER
Video Assistant Referee: Robert Schröder GER
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Sören Storks GER
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Sören Storks GER
UEFA Referee Observer:
UEFA Delegate: Kuanysh Kanapyanov KAZ
18:45 CET - Istanbul (RAMS Park)
GALATASARAY (TUR) - ROYALE UNION SAINT-GILLOISE (BEL)
Referee: José María Sánchez ESP
Assistant Referee 1: Raúl Cabañero ESP
Assistant Referee 2: Iñigo Prieto ESP
Fourth Official: Alejandro Muñiz Ruiz ESP
Video Assistant Referee: Carlos Del Cerro Grande ESP
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Javier Iglesias Villanueva ESP
UEFA Referee Observer:
UEFA Delegate: David Andrew McDowell Zhor SVN
21:00 CET - City (Etihad Stadium)
MANCHESTER CITY FC (ENG) - BAYER 04 LEVERKUSEN (GER)
Referee: João Pinheiro POR
Assistant Referee 1: Bruno Jesus POR
Assistant Referee 2: Luciano Maia POR
Fourth Official: João Gonçalves POR
Video Assistant Referee: Tiago Martins POR
Assistant Video Assistant Referee:
UEFA Referee Observer:
UEFA Delegate: María Medina Jiménez ESP
21:00 CET - London (Stamford Bridge)
CHELSEA FC (ENG) - FC BARCELONA (ESP)
Referee: Slavko Vinčić SVN
Assistant Referee 1: Tomaž Klančnik SVN
Assistant Referee 2: Andraž Kovačič SVN
Assistant Referee 1: Tomaž Klančnik SVN
Assistant Referee 2: Andraž Kovačič SVN
Fourth Official: David Šmajc SVN
Video Assistant Referee: Christian Dingert GER
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Benjamin Brand GER
UEFA Referee Observer: Gylfi Þór Orrason ISL
UEFA Delegate: Rudolf Řepka CZE
21:00 CET - Dortmund (Signal Iduna Park)
BORUSSIA DORTMUND (GER) - VILLARREAL CF (ESP)
Referee: Davide Massa ITA
Assistant Referee 1: Stefano Alassio ITA
Assistant Referee 2: Alessio Berti ITA
Fourth Official: Rosario Abisso ITA
Video Assistant Referee: Daniele Chiffi ITA
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Michael Salisbury ENG
UEFA Referee Observer:
UEFA Delegate: Gerard Lawlor NIR
21:00 CET - Naples (Stadio Diego Armando Maradona)
SSC NAPOLI (ITA) - QARABAĞ FK (AZE)
Referee: Szymon Marciniak POL
Assistant Referee 1: Tomasz Listkiewicz POL
Assistant Referee 2: Adam Kupsik POL
Fourth Official: Wojciech Myc POL
Video Assistant Referee: Pol van Boekel NED
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Ivan Bebek CRO
UEFA Referee Observer:
UEFA Delegate: Peadar Ryan IRL
21:00 CET - Prague (Eden Aréna)
SK SLAVIA PRAHA (CZE) - ATHLETIC CLUB (ESP)
Referee: Donatas Rumšas LTU
Assistant Referee 1: Aleksandr Radiuš LTUAssistant Referee 2: Dovydas Sužiedėlis LTU
Fourth Official: Robertas Valikonis LTU
Video Assistant Referee: Clay Ruperti NED
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Erwin Blank NED
UEFA Referee Observer:
UEFA Delegate: Zgjim Sojeva KOS
21:00 CET - Bodø (Aspmyra)
FK BODØ/GLIMT (NOR) - JUVENTUS FC (ITA)
Referee: Danny Makkelie NED
Assistant Referee 1: Hessel Steegstra NED
Assistant Referee 2: Jan de Vries NED
Fourth Official: Allard Lindhout NED
Video Assistant Referee: Bram Van Driessche BEL
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Guillermo Cuadra Fernández ESP
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Guillermo Cuadra Fernández ESP
UEFA Referee Observer:
UEFA Delegate: Kim Hallberg DEN
21:00 CET - Marseille (Vélodrome)
OLYMPIQUE DE MARSEILLE (FRA) - NEWCASTLE UNITED FC (ENG)
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: Aleandro Di Paolo ITA
UEFA Referee Observer:
UEFA Delegate: Loukas Siotropos GRE
Juventus and Napoli, due to their delicate position in the standing, get Makkelie and Marciniak, both are more than used to such tasks. Nothing new under Rosetti's management... even if the games are not that big, appointments are made based on this criterion.
ReplyDeleteGood analysis in this regard by an anonymous comment, once again. To add about Marciniak, his last game with Napoli was Napoli - Milan in Champion League in which he had been criticized, especially for the work of Polish VAR, so I think this is also a choice to allow him to meet again the Italian side at home (absolutely no matter about the Azeri team for committee, they could assign them all referees). Marciniak this time will be with Van Boekel.
To follow, honestly after Kuipers observation in Athletic - Arsenal, MD1, one could have expected something bigger for the Lithuanian to follow, but still getting CL without any downgrade to Europa League was a rather good signal. Nevertheless, this one, involving the Czech side and once again the Spanish club from Basque country is not the top tie one could have predicted. He could have got something a bit more challenging. And he will repeat Athletic. To me it's a rather poor management, there are only "sufficient" elements to say that Kuipers assessed as OK his outing on September, but surely at moment nothing more than that. Let's then wait for the rest of assignments in less than a hour.
Should we look for something behind the foreign VAR for Makkelie?
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