UEFA Champions League Matchday 7. Second set of games, to be played on 21 January 2026.
18:45 CET - Istanbul (Ali Sami Yen Spor Kompleksi - Rams Park)
GALATASARAY (TUR) - CLUB ATLÉTICO DE MADRID (ESP)
Referee: Istvan Kovacs ROU
Assistant Referee 1: Mihai Marius Marica ROU
Assistant Referee 2: Ferencz Tunyogi ROU
Fourth Official: Szabolcs Roland Kovacs ROU
Video Assistant Referee: Rob Dieperink NED
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Cătălin Sorin Popa ROU
UEFA Referee Observer: Domagoj Vučkov CRO
UEFA Delegate: Andrey Medintsev BUL
18:45 CET - Baku (Tofiq Bəhramov adına Respublika Stadionu)
QARABAĞ FK (AZE) - EINTRACHT FRANKFURT (GER)
Referee: Sandro Schärer SUI
Assistant Referee 1: Stéphane De Almeida SUI
Assistant Referee 2: Jonas Erni SUI
Fourth Official: Johannes von Mandach SUI
Video Assistant Referee: Fedayi San SUI
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Lukas Fähndrich SUI
UEFA Referee Observer: Stefan Johannesson SWE
UEFA Delegate: Per Eliasson SWE
21:00 CET - London (Stamford Bridge)
CHELSEA FC (ENG) - PAFOS FC (CYP)
Referee: Erik Lambrechts BEL
Assistant Referee 1: Jo De Weirdt BEL
Assistant Referee 2: Kevin Monteny BEL
Fourth Official: Nathan Verboomen BEL
Video Assistant Referee: Carlos del Cerro Grande ESP
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Pol van Boekel NED
UEFA Referee Observer: Vítor Manuel de Melo Pereira POR
UEFA Delegate: Philipp Mergenthaler GER
21:00 CET - Bergamo (New Balance Arena)
ATALANTA BC (ITA) - ATHLETIC CLUB (ESP)
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: Michael Salisbury ENG
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Andrew Dallas SCO
UEFA Referee Observer: Hugh Dallas SCO
UEFA Delegate: Tibor Vámos HUN
21:00 CET - Turin (Allianz Stadium)
JUVENTUS (ITA) - SL BENFICA (POR)
Referee: Serdar Gözübüyük NED
Assistant Referee 1: Patrick Inia NED
Assistant Referee 2: Rogier Honig NED
Fourth Official: Jeroen Manschot NED
Video Assistant Referee: Bram Van Driessche BEL
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Dennis Johan Higler NED
UEFA Referee Observer: Tomasz Mikulski POL
UEFA Delegate: Garry O'Hagan SCO
21:00 CET - Prague (Fortuna Arena)
SK SLAVIA PRAHA (CZE) - FC BARCELONA (ESP)
Referee: Christopher Kavanagh ENG
Assistant Referee 1: Daniel Cook ENG
Assistant Referee 2: Ian Hussin ENG
Fourth Official: Samuel Barrott ENG
Video Assistant Referee: Stuart Attwell ENG
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Peter Bankes ENG
UEFA Referee Observer: Terje Hauge NOR
UEFA Delegate: João Morais POR
21:00 CET - Marseille (Orange Vélodrome)
OLYMPIQUE DE MARSEILLE (FRA) - LIVERPOOL FC (ENG)
Referee: Slavko Vinčić 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: Ivan Bebek CRO
UEFA Referee Observer: Volodymyr Petrov UKR
UEFA Delegate: Per Svärd SWE
21:00 CET - Newcastle upon Tyne (St James' Park)
NEWCASTLE UNITED FC (ENG) - PSV EINDHOVEN (NED)
Referee: Daniel Siebert GER
Assistant Referee 1: Jan Seidel GER
Assistant Referee 2: Rafael Foltyn GER
Fourth Official: Daniel Schlager GER
Video Assistant Referee: Bastian Dankert GER
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Robert Schröder GER
UEFA Referee Observer: John Ward IRL
UEFA Delegate: Michal Mertinyák SVK
21:00 CET - Munich (Allianz Arena)
FC BAYERN MÜNCHEN (GER) - ROYALE UNION SAINT-GILLOISE (BEL)
Referee: Rade Obrenovič SVN
Assistant Referee 1: Jure Praprotnik SVN
Assistant Referee 2: Grega Kordež SVN
Fourth Official: Martin Matoša SVN
Video Assistant Referee: Matej Jug SVN
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Jarred Gillett AUS/ENG
UEFA Referee Observer: Bernardino González Vázquez ESP
UEFA Delegate: Diana Bulgaru MDA
Considering that I closely follow the Premier League, I don’t see the logic behind why UEFA has started pushing Kavanagh. He and Obrenović are not at that level and I’m confident about that, but it’s obvious that until the end of his mandate, Ceferin feels the need to turn a new Slovenian referee into an elite one.
ReplyDeleteAgree with kavanagh really strange to see him here with his performances in the PL. Don’t really understand overall how England referees are at this level bcose when you’re watching their games is not good at all imo
DeleteI watched Kavanagh in 2 UCL games this year and he was very solid. I think that's the reason he is pushed in the UEFA now.
DeleteThink Kavanagh has done well in most of his UEFA games recently so I'm not surprised about his recent push. Taylor's age and Brooks injury issues (hopefully now over) have also probably helped him recently.
DeleteI have watched Kavanagh live in Frankfurt for Eintracht-Atalanta and he was so good so far. Why not?
ReplyDeleteDallas observing when his son is AVAR?
ReplyDeleteDoes seem rather odd in all honesty
DeleteAgree. Incredible appointment here. Perhaps uefa is in « caf model » here ? ^^
DeleteUltimately the AVAR is not assessed by the referee observer. Only the VAR receives a report
DeleteIn the end, all the promoted Elite players will have assignments in the UCL.
ReplyDeleteSo I predict several promotions to Category 1 tomorrow in the EL.
It's been a long time since I've seen allocations for two countries as important as FRA and ESP!
ReplyDeleteNO CL matches for
ReplyDeleteTurpin - letexier - zwayer - oliver - Marciniak.
I expect all them in the europa league
Zwayer certainly not because his first AR Kempter is working with Jablonski this MD.
DeleteNone of them will be in Europa League. They are all given this week off to be ready for next week with many potential influential matches coming up
Deleteoh yes.. I forgot that there are CL matches again next week
DeleteHow can Hugh observe the officials, when one of them is his son?
ReplyDeleteSo the comment about the other three new Elite referee to be assigned all on this Matchday was right. We have indeed Lambrechts, Kavanagh and Obrenovic out. As for the English, easy to mark the game in Czech Republic as an expected win by Barcelona. Then, if I'm not wrong, Obrenovic had already the Belgian club. This time at Bayern's home. Bayern still very favorite team, with St Gilloise rather without chances. One can think that Chelsea - Pafos for Lambrechts is a game with something more. Chelsea still looking for qualification and rather big name (even if today not like the past), but the Cypriot side is doing well. Could be more interesting to watch than the other games, but still one coul expect Chelsea there.
ReplyDeleteTo follow: for Kovacs in Istanbul a very fiery duel, Galatasaray and Atlético Madrid. Applying his very well known-style could lead to epic match.
The two Dutch referees will visit Italy, this happens very often for Makkelie, as we know, while less for Gozubuyuk: in this case Juventus is in a more delicate situation, and the game can remind a very famous one (a never ending one..) officiated by Mark Clattenburg in 2014 EL semifinal.
Very crucial tie in Marseille and Vincic will be there: in case of win by French side, they could have same points of Liverpool, trying a qualification. On another Slovenian note, once finished his careeer as field referee, Jug has immediately found how to continue for a long time. Ready to be VAR from Slovenia, maybe also becoming nr. 1 in the role? We can indeed remember some choices in this regard even when he was still active referee.
Last but not least, Siebert, when committee has time, they always appoint him: a chance for English side, they should win at home to keep the dream. PSV more in difficulty.
It seems that all the elite referees except Meler have been appointed to the Champions League. Rosetti, when will he forget the Bruges-Atalanta match?
DeleteThere are other games on next week, not all referees have been appointed, big names are missing, possible the Turkish will appear on Wednesday 28 January in a game.
DeleteKnowing the intense atmosphere in Istanbul, Rosetti isn't leaving anything to chance. Can we say that the committee is giving extra importance to Galatasaray matches this year, Chefren?
ReplyDeleteIn particular for this match the choice has certainly been made based on the Romanian referee's style of officiating. It is expected to be a rough, physical game, possibly full of fouls and with little if not zero spectacle. If Kovacs applies his style without changing it, the disciplinary record could end up being remarkable.
DeleteRosetti's evaluations (well, apart from Italian teams...) are always made on the basis of the importance of the matches. Galatasaray is given greater importance this season because of its position in the standings, with a win they can still hope for qualification, against a direct opponent like the Spanish club, otherwise, for Galatsaray we would see different referees.
OT:
ReplyDeleteThierry Henry with some strong words about African refs and how they are not good enough and they need to be trained.
Hopefully this whole chaos will motivate CAF and their intentions will be to improve refs and their skills.
Kovacs with 2 YC's so far,1 for SPA and clear shirt pulling and the other one was for Osimhen's reaction towards that foul.
ReplyDeleteAnd now reckles from Almada and clear YC.
DeleteNot so difficult match,but 3 YC's,all of them correct.
First half in which Kovacs did what Kovacs does best: strict and uncompromising in his decisions and disciplinary actions (three yellow cards, including a second following a confrontation). Firm and austere, yet in complete control, showing authority, charisma, and presence. An excellent performance at the halfway stage.
ReplyDeleteAgreed, strong performance and character from Kovacs so far
Delete2nd half starting strong,YC Barrios clear stamp.
ReplyDeleteStrong and good from Kovacs so far,looks like his old type of performances.
Now elbow to the face,again YC.
DeleteRefreshing to see this sort of handling the matches after AFCON.
One could argue that this is a game in which you should exactly expect this approach, and having another one would be a very big mistake by referee, also for this reason I think Kovacs was sent by Rosetti.
DeleteThe problem you describe is more evident in "normal games", in which referees can decide what to do with more freedom and they tend to avoid cards.
6th YC Simeone,spa and reckless.
DeleteExemplary performance from a disciplinary and authoritative standpoint, with a clear and consistent line of officiating, resulting in six yellow cards, all fully justified, by three-quarters of the match.
Delete@Chefren,agree,but then again you have refs like Kovacs and Siebert,even Brych was like that.
DeleteAll by the book,no matter the match,but paying attention especially in this type of matches and atmosphere.
Also,we both watch Serie A,this kind of problem is most obvious in Serie A,where refs choose when and who to card.
That wasnt the case when big names like Orsato,Rizzoli,Rocchi and others were there.
That is also happening in Spain.
So that's why we see more refs like Doveri,Kuipers,Rojas,Turpin..
Leniency is the best way to stay hidden and very rarely backfires.
Soft penalty for Frankfurt, I 'd say Qarabag had a much more legitimate penalty shout.
ReplyDeleteThe penalty given was supportable but I wasn't fully convinced. To be rewatched the previous appeal by Qarabag...
DeleteActually according to commentary VAR was not working on this game due to technical issues. Rare nowadays to have that sort of pressure on the referre.
DeleteMASTERCLASS by Kovacs. Nothing to say. Well done Istvan !
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteYep,great performance..Maybe towards the end he let some things go,but that does not change the fact that this match was an A+.
ReplyDeleteBravo.
10‘ NEW - PSV:
ReplyDeleteOFR for Siebert to check for active/passive offside. Totally unnecessary intervention IMO, absolutely no real action by attacker but at least pretty quick check.
I don't agree with that. The defender clearly has to make a move around the attacker, so IMO punishable offside.
DeleteIn my book a justified review as well. Defender doesn’t have a free path towards the ball, is somewhat impeded by the attacker which prevents him to challenge for the ball.
DeleteAs Joelinton is clearly going to be first to the ball no matter what, I don't think it can be considered an interference, because as soon as he does, it's would be a new situation.
DeleteInteresting VAR check at the Newcastle game. Siebert sent to check subjective offside but gave the goal
ReplyDeleteImo Missed red card for New 39 for SFP
ReplyDeleteMissed rc by Siebert for Newcastle. I cannot understand why not a VAR interventies from Siebeet
ReplyDeleteI mean VAR intervention from Dankert. Big mistake from both
DeleteUnfortunately I have to agree, missed RC and missed intervention in Newcastle - PSV, and Newcastle scored shortly after...
ReplyDeleteAgree. Clear missed RC by Siebert and VAR Dankery. Very unusual to this this top screen ref « sleeping » like in this case…
Delete43' Potential penalty for Liverpool, decision by Vincic: no, VAR supported
ReplyDeleteGood decision. No arm but shoulder. No penalty by book.
DeleteNEWPSV 08' OFR for a possible offside
ReplyDeletehttps://streambug.org/cv/063a3e
NEWPSV 26' possible SFP
https://www.streambug.io/cv/c89fb4
Sorry but how on earth can Dankert stayed silent here ! Unacceptable !
DeleteIn my opinion, Dankert's VAR call was very meticulous. Offside could have been called, but as in this case, a lot of OFRs would have to be called to make such a minimal, impactful assessment. It's true that the defender should have moved due to the attacker's presence, but it's of little significance. I agree with Siebert in awarding the goal based on what we have seen so far, but I think the basic discussion here is about this intervention, because if we have to highlight all the possible offsides of this kind, I think we should see a lot more evaluations on the monitor. Sometimes these calls are made, other times and other more obvious active offside situations are ignored at all.
DeleteI really don't know.
26': considered as strong step on foot by VAR, I think, but red card for me. Mistake by VAR. He should have intervened. Questionable decisions by the German VAR in the game.
Defender would 100 % get to that ball if the offside standing player didn’t obstruct his path.
Delete26 shouldn’t be red. Look at real speed. Ball first and impossible to predict and remove foot. Accident.
DeleteQarabag - Eintracht Frankfurt
ReplyDeletePenalty (play on, NO VAR intervention):
https://streambug.org/cv/fbde09
Penalty whistled:
https://streambug.org/cv/ab203c
For me both supportable decisions, correct for VAR to stay out from everything, but a classic case in which in a short time a referee decision can go in a way rather than in another... one has just to accept that.
First incident. Clear trip on the foot. That’s why he fell.
DeleteCorrect PK by Obrenovič in Munich, very clear. Maybe missed YC for the Saint-Gilloise GK for either DOGSO/genuine attempt or reckless challenge.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I was about to write. I would have really liked a YC there, even though I agree with the ref in the situation not being clearly DOGSO but still reckless IMO. But these YCs for reckless inside penalty area are not given anymore, especially when we talk about keeper.
DeletePenalty: https://streamff.com/v/3028b354
DeleteSecond YC: https://streamff.com/v/c70dcb18
IMO, neither were penalties; in the second one, perhaps the push in the back was a penalty.
Delete63, Now 2nd YC for Bayern. IMO very good call by Obrenovic and AR2. Rather unnecessary, stupid holding by defender in SPA-scenario. Light holding but in these circumstances enough for a foul IMO
ReplyDeleteDon’t really understand why Bayern players are talking like that about the 2nd YC clear for me
DeleteThis is never a second yellow card.
DeleteTo me second YC is supportable, strict for a referee who goes by book, and this seems the style of Obrenovic.
DeleteHowever, we must say very complicated game for him, if we stay at what was rather expected,...
Haven't seen the incidents but penalties awarded in both Turin and Munich (both missed)
ReplyDeleteA penalty gift for Bayern. The Belgian player never handled the ball. Unbelievable.
ReplyDeleteWell, eventful game for Obrenovic. OFR for Handball Penalty, IMO never clear and obvious mistake but maybe missed incident and therefore the intervention, we will never find out.
ReplyDeleteObrenovic is a victim of the still unclear hand-ruling. For me no hand ball: I am interested, what the forum here thinks.
ReplyDeleteStill I think Obrenovic made asome mistakes in foul detection and in game management this evening. Not convincing at all.
Never a penalty for me and never VAR stuff too…Agree not convincing Obrenovic…
DeleteIf I may add: the RC decision was correct. So no objection from my side to this Obrenovic decision.
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DeleteNever handball. He is literally getting punished for trying to avoid the ball instead of using the arm as support on the ground, which would be a completely natural position.
DeleteAfter a rather quiet first half, Makkelie in Bergamo facing right now a challenging end of the game, as the score is 2-3 and the outcome can change in a while.
ReplyDeleteI agree Chefren. Makkelie was full in controle with strong and confident body language. All key decisions correct. Well done for the team.
DeleteReally not the best Makkelie tonight to be honest. Expecially about different interpretation during the match of similar contacts/fouls. Very controversial offside with the goal disallowed in first half. My prediction is he will not be appointed next week in UCL
Delete“ He will not be appointed next week in UCL”
DeleteI think you should go to the casino, my friend. 28 January is his birthday, and KNVB already appointed Makkelie for next Monday.
Haha. The TV footage showed the lines in the second half and it was offside, the assistant was absolutely correct! I don’t know if MD8 appointments have already been made, but Makkelie and his crew did a great job.
DeleteIMO really an almost perfect performance from Mekkelie under athletic, technical and disciplinary profile.
DeleteObrenovic OFR for handball penalty: https://streambug.org/cv/fbcdf1
ReplyDeleteFollowing the discussion above, my opinion is that this is a rather strict call but not a wrong one. Arm can stay in that position given the movement of the defender, however he takes a risk if the ball comes.
My idea is that this would be OK to be assessed as only supportable if whistled by referee and not VAR stuff, but with handballs it's always hard and one argument is written above in a comment, in case of totally missed incident, referee should be allowed to see the handball, in this case for sure he didn't see anything live. I can therefore understand who is coming from a "different" handball culture, for them that's not penalty at all. I'm also convinced an English or German VAR wouldn't have called it.
To clarify, this is of course an analysis made on the fact that the defender touched ball with a punishable part (arm and not shoulder), otherwise it would be a VAR mistake, but looking at video, I think it was arm so OK under this point of view.
DeleteThis is not a penalty in my opinion. The arm is close enough to the body for me. The defender even tries to avoid making contact. If we call this a handball, there won‘t be any play on calls anymore, I can‘t think of such a scenario. I‘m really curious how UEFA interpreters this.
DeleteFirst of all. Never handball. Second, ball clearly changes direction after hitting his teammates leg. Third, he is sliding and needs the arm for support. Despite that, he still tried to tuck the arm close to his body and avoid it.
DeleteIt’s ”definitely not an acceptable call. These decisions ruin the sport and understanding of handball.
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteJuventus - Benfica, penalty after OFR.
ReplyDeletehttps://streambug.org/cv/d3b77e
It's interesting to note how the Dutch referee completely stopped himself at 78:09, almost freezing in place, in my view he thought that it was the right position to assess a possible penalty. In reality, the action then developed further and he was clearly left completely out from seeing anything. It wasn't easy anyway, because not an isolated action, but I think that with a bit more reactivity he could at least have tried to get a view of it. This is to me indeed a fully missed incident and also for this reason, VAR called.
Obrenovic is generally a good referee but doesn’t own a positioning sense in continuous actions. So he know well how to decide in slow actions but has more difficolties in fast ones.
Deleteknows (not know), pardon
DeleteIt's a difficult incident to spot live. Aside from that, Chefren, you're always very critical of Gözübüyük's body language. I see it with every appointment here
DeleteMy prediction for match day eight
ReplyDeleteMonaco vs juventus : oliver
Ajax vs olympiakos : turpin
Arsenal vs kairat: hernandez
Athletico club vs sporting: letexier
Athletico madrid vs bodo : zwayer
Barcelona vs Copenhagen: guida
Dortmund vs inter : martinez
Club bruge vs marseille: manzano
Liverpool vs Qarabag: godinho
Mancity vs galatasaray: kovacs
Psv vs bayern munich : marciniak
Psg vs Newcastle: pinheiro
Union vs atalanta: pljeto
DeleteNapoli vs chelsea: sandro schärer
Napoli-Chelsea would be a very big one for Schärer. As a Swiss I'd obviously like that very much but I expect a big name like Letexier or Marciniak to be present there.
DeleteChelsea is already secured in a place at is least in twenty four
DeleteChelsea is certainly aiming for a place under the first eight. I think it's really important for the clubs to avoid these two extra games.
DeleteEspecially in England with the high rhythm of games.
DeleteYes but I think it is more important for napoli who is seeking to qualify for knockout stages
DeleteI agree with you that the game is more important for Napoli. Nevertheless I expect a top 3 referee there because of the fact that two big European clubs seek for a win especially the home side with the pressure to qualify.
DeleteChefren, Which matches of the last round seem to be the most important in terms of the table structure?
ReplyDeleteMy MD6 predictions
ReplyDeletePSG - Newcastle: Guida (di Paolo)
ManCity - Galatasaray: Gil Manzano (Cuadra)
Liverpool - Qarabag: Stieler (Brand)
Dortmund - Inter: Oliver (Salisbury)
Barcelona - Copenhagen: Zwayer (Storks)
Ajax - Olympiakos: Kruzliak (Fabbri)
Arsenal - Almaty: de Burgos (van Boekel)
Atletico - Bodo: Turpin (Brisard)
Leverkusen - Villareal: Eskas (Bebek)
Benfica - Real: Massa (di Bello)
Brugge - Marseille: Hernandez (Soto)
Frankfurt - Tottenham: Peljto (Schüttengruber)
PSV - Bayern: Schärer (van Driessche)
Napoli - Chelsea: Letexier (Delajod)
Monaco - Juventus: Sanchez (del Cerro Grande)
Saint-Gilloise - Atalanta: Marciniak (Kwiatkowski)
Bilbao - Sporting: Bastien (Dingert)
Pafos - Slavia: Walsh (Lasyk)