Monday 7 December 2020

Champions League 2020/21 - Referee Appointments - Matchday 6 (II)

Referee appointments for 2020-21 UEFA Champions League Group Stage, Matchday 6.  Games to be played on 9 December 2020. 

9 December 2020

18:55 CET - Amsterdam (Johan Cruijff ArenA)
AFC Ajax (NED) - Atalanta BC (ITA) | Group D
Referee: Carlos del Cerro Grande (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Juan Carlos Yuste Jiménez (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Roberto Alonso Fernández (ESP)
Fourth Official: Georgi Kabakov (BUL)
Video Assistant Referee: Juan Martínez Munuera (ESP)
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Javier Estrada Fernández (ESP)
UEFA Referee Observer: Levan Paniashvili (GEO)
UEFA Delegate: Duncan Fraser (SCO)

18:55 CET - Herning (Arena Herning)
FC Midtjylland (DEN) - Liverpool FC (ENG) | Group D
Referee: François Letexier (FRA) 
Assistant Referee 1: Mehdi Ramouni (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Cyril Gringore (FRA)
Fourth Official: Amaury Delerue (FRA)
Video Assistant Referee: Clément Turpin (FRA)
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Jérôme Brisard (FRA)
UEFA Referee Observer: Juan Antonio Fernández Marín (ESP)
UEFA Delegate: João Morais (POR)

21:00 CET - Munich (Fußball Arena)
FC Bayern München (GER) - FC Lokomotiv Moskva (RUS) | Group A
Referee: Sandro Schärer (SUI)
Assistant Referee 1: Stéphane de Almeida (SUI)
Assistant Referee 2: Bekim Zogaj (SUI) Jonas Erni (SUI)
Fourth Official: Alain Bieri (SUI) 
Video Assistant Referee: Massimiliano Irrati (ITA)
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Paolo Valeri (ITA) 
UEFA Referee Observer: Frank De Bleeckere (BEL)
UEFA Delegate: Patrick Wattebled (FRA) 

21:00 CET - Zenit (Stadion Salzburg)
FC Salzburg (AUT) - Club Atlético de Madrid (ESP) | Group A
Referee: Anthony Taylor (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Gary Beswick (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Adam Nunn (ENG) 
Fourth Official: Craig Pawson (ENG)
Video Assistant Referee: Stuart Attwell (ENG)
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Paul Tierney (ENG) 
UEFA Referee Observer: Jan W. Wegereef (NED)
UEFA Delegate: Metin Kazancıoğlu (TUR)

21:00 CET - Milan (Stadio Giuseppe Meazza)
FC Internazionale Milano (ITA) - FC Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR) | Group B
Referee: Slavko Vinčić (SVN)
Assistant Referee 1: Tomaz Klancnik (SVN)
Assistant Referee 2: Andraž Kovačič (SVN)
Fourth Official: Rade Obrenović (SVN)
Video Assistant Referee: Paweł Gil (POL)
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Jure Praprotnik (SVN)
UEFA Referee Observer: Peter Sippel (GER)
UEFA Delegate: Tammo Beishuizen (NED)

21:00 CET - Madrid (Estadio Alfredo Di Stéfano)
Real Madrid CF (ESP) - VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach (GER) | Group B
Referee: Björn Kuipers (NED)
Assistant Referee 1:  Sander van Roekel (NED)
Assistant Referee 2: Erwin E. J. Zeinstra (NED) 
Fourth Official: Allard Lindhout (NED)
Video Assistant Referee: Pol van Boekel (NED)
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Dennis Higler (NED)
UEFA Referee Observer: Konrad Plautz (AUT)
UEFA Delegate: Mark Blackbourne (ENG)

21:00 CET - Manchester (City of Manchester Stadium)
Manchester City FC (ENG) - Olympique de Marseille (FRA) | Group C
Referee: Halil Umut Meler (TUR)
Assistant Referee 1: Mustafa Emre Eyisoy (TUR)
Assistant Referee 2: Cevdet Komurcuoglu (TUR)
Fourth Official: Arda Kardeşler (TUR)
Video Assistant Referee: Sascha Stegemann (GER)
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Ali Palabiyik (TUR)
UEFA Referee Observer: Vítor Manuel Melo Pereira (POR)
UEFA Delegate: Paul Zaharia (ROU)

21:00 CET - Piraeus (Stadio Georgios Karaiskakis)
Olympiacos FC (GRE) - FC Porto (POR) | Group C
Referee: Felix Brych (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Mark Borsch (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Stefan Lupp (GER)
Fourth Official: Donatas Rumsas (LTU)
Video Assistant Referee: Marco Fritz (GER)
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Harm Osmers (GER)
UEFA Referee Observer: Markus Nobs (SUI)
UEFA Delegate: Ronald Zimmermann (GER)

78 comments:

  1. Three Dutch appointments for Borussia Mönchengladbach in this group stage. That's maybe a record. 2x Kuipers and 1x Makkelie.
    As expected, really no options for this group.
    However, with so many Elite referees on paper, I think that committee must make some observations.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think even 4 times...! They had Gözübüyük on MD3 (Shaktar Donetsk - Mönchengladbach). So in total Kuipers on MD1 and 6, Makkelie MD5 and Gözübüyük on MD3.

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    2. Oh indeed, sorry, I forgot that. 100% record!

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  2. And the very important games go to:

    Salzburg - Atletico Taylor
    Internazionale - Shakhtar Vincic
    Real Madrid - Mönchengladbach Kuipers
    Ajax - Atalanta del Cerro
    Lazio - Club Brugge Cakir
    Paris - İstanbul Başakşehir Hategan
    Leipzig - Man. United Mateu

    CL Debuts for:
    Meler, Letexier and Frankowski

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  3. Valeri and Irrati VARs in London on Tuesday and in Germany on Wednesday

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    Replies
    1. YES but they work from nyon for all two matches

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  4. Is there a reason why del Cerro (Atalanta MD 4 and 6) and Lahoz (Man Utd MD 1 and 6) couldn’t have swapped?

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    Replies
    1. Hategan (Basaksehir 4/6) Kuipers (M’Gladbaach 1/6)

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    2. Del Cerro Grande had Leipzig last week.

      Hategan seems indeed a bit unneccesary in that match. IMO also a lower Elite referee (e.g. Kovacs) could have done it.

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  5. Degradation of Marciniak

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  6. Valeri and Irrati will be VAR from Nyon

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    Replies
    1. Thank for the info. In both games? Indeed this is the most logical solution, impossible to make a travel in 24 hours between two games.

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  7. Yes both. It's a new experiment for the VAR Center in the future. At the venue there will be two "back up VAR" in case of emergency

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, it would be interesting to know the names of back up VARs.

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  8. Replies
    1. Strictly based on the current season, Jug would have merited more than Vincic to end the year with a CL match, but, yes, Vincic is on the elite list...

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  9. I do a premise: nothing against the referees who will have ther Champions League debut, they are absolutely capable and I'm happy they achieved this excellent result in their international careeer... but... and I must say that now after having read the last set of CL appointments for this group stage, there isn't any consistency by committee in making such choices. One can't really understand the reasons behind some choices. Of course VAR is very important and so referees from Poland and Turkey will be there but my opinion is that Rosetti gives too easy debuts to some referees, while other ones are forced to struggle for getting at least a decent game. In similar conditions, in my opinion it is not fair. Also, we don't see committee members for observing referees in such very important steps of their career, there is the perception that committee considers such games only "normal". With Rosetti, and I'm aware of what I'm about to say, there has been a clear devaluation of technical development of UEFA referees, in favor of "giving a chance to everybody". This can be even more seen in Europa League, but OK, one can still say that in Europa League is a good thing. But not the same in Champions League! With Collina we had a very clear logic in appointments. A referee assigned to a CL debut was in the centre of the focus.
    But, as Mikael wrote a few days ago, and I must admit I agree with him, it seems as Rosetti & CO. have now very white paper on which they can write everything without too much obligations.
    This is by far easier than what Collina did in past and one must admit that.
    Again, let me underline, with this speech nothing against the appointed referees, but I disagree with such management, not only about MD6 but also regarding other choices made by Rosetti in previous months.

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    1. I fully agree with your analysis here. I cannot speak for Meler, but at least for Letexier, this CL group stage debut comes way too early for him (IIRC, he missed a penalty in Benfica-Liège?). Would a 7,9 in Collina days have opened a door to a CL match? I doubt this.

      I must say, in 2018 when Rosetti took over, I was positively surprised that he opened the door to CL and EL to basically every nation in UEFA and I disagree that this is a devaluation of referee development. I remember for instance that the debuts in CL of Orel Grinfeld and István Kovács were quite surprising and both have reached Elite Group (in case of Grinfeld, I think he has very good chances to attend EURO and I personally rate him quite highly). But the way appointments have been managed in this group stage is disappointing, I cannot see a clear logic behind the debuts of Frankowski, Meler and Letexier apart from the fact that they are from nations that have VAR implemented in their respective leagues. One can wonder what else Irfan Peljto and Nikola Dabanović must do in order to be (finally) appointed to Champions League. Both should have the authorization to handle VAR-live matches as they have done so in summer in Saudi Arabia, so...

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    2. Chefren- thank you for very good analysis, I fully agreed with you.
      Rosseti makes appointment based on politics reason, not based-on performance this tendence starting last year and continues this season.
      Good example is Letexier is too early debut for him, especially not very confident refereeing in UEFA matches NED-Bosnia and Benfika-Liege, but he is French. Young and promising referee but other referees like Peljto, Dabanovic or Sánchez Martínez deserved it much more. The same for Umut Meler to early, I understand that UEFA need replacement of Cakir and Rosseti previously worked in Turkey, but its not a good management

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    3. Yeah some of these appointments are...interesting to say the least to me, especially Grinfeld being left out. I guess Rosetti is saving him for the UEL but I was expecting him to get one of the bigger games, like PAR-IBFK for instance (if the issue was VAR, he had Israeli VARs in Munchen on MD4). Even for some of the "dead rubber" games this week with not a lot on the line (MID-LIV especially) you need to have your most experienced referees out there.

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    4. Just to clarify a small point about what I said. Opening to all countries is excellent, indeed, but what I criticize is the management of appointments, with absolutely unexpected choices and not a clear line. Letexier, Umut Meler, Frankowski, all would have need by far very long time and many previous appointments before this big step, and there are other referees that are treated differently. It is unfair, I repeat myself, I know that VAR makes almost everything there, but... I feel chances should be equal for all referees from all countries.

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    5. I usually avoid writing negative comments on this blog since one of its best features, in my opinion, are the fairness, supportivness and respect towards the refereeing world. However, I can't agree more with Chefren here. This season's appointments lack any system, logic or meritocracy. Some of them make the impression that they are either political or simply random. Covid created problems for appointments, but it is not the reason for throwing meritocracy to trashbin. The lack of any transparent or legitimate system of appointments is a very bad signal by the committee not only externaly, but mostly towards UEFA referees themselves, who, I believe, are mostly rather disillusioned by the management of appointments made by this committee.

      And thus, after years of following this blog and its predecessors, I am hereby breaking my rules about hars and judgemental comments, because I think it is deserved and necesarry this time: Rosetti must step down. In order to save meritocracy in UEFA refereeing and keeping it healthy, based on referees performances and nothing else. The trust in him could not be stretched any longer.

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    6. I am not so sure about that. Some years ago many here including you and me criticized after the group stage that there weren't enough options for the last rounds because the young talents hot no chances to get experiences and prove their skills. And now too many? We can't have both, I am afraid.

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  10. Hi to everyone.
    Wwe had here list of new uefa referees for 2020 last year on this date. Can we expect the new list for 2021 this week here?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It depends on when committee will meet, still unknown, maybe this week, maybe the next one...

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    2. Thanks Chefren

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  11. del Cerro Grande: Important match again for him and chosen in spite of a MD4 appointment with Atalanta. 4 matches in a row after missing on MD1 and MD2 in CL, so any doubts regarding his status should be gone.
    Letexier: Debut in a meaningless match. Not unexpected to see his name, however he hasn't collected much experience in EL yet, so still a too early debut IMO.
    Schärer: Normal appointment, it seems likely, that he will establish himself in CL during the next years
    Taylor: Expectable appointment in a direct match for qualification, confirming his position among the very top referees
    Vincic: Great, important match for him. He seems to fill Skomina's gap and should have quite good chances for CL KO stage and EURO now (at the latest).
    Kuipers: As we know, one of UEFA's "jokers" (wildcards) for important matches. Selected in spite of being the 4th Dutch for Mönchengladbach and having refereed already in the two previous weeks.
    Meler: Debut in a match with one team still playing for EL. Quite similar in terms of experience/previous appointments as Letexier.
    Brych: Not so great match for his status. Either UEFA didn't like his previous performance(s) or it was a lack of different options.

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    Replies
    1. About Skomina... he was tested positive for COVID. When the test became negative, he will go to knee surgery. How bad is it, I don't know.

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    2. I agree with your comments... very weird debut for Meler given that Europa League knockout stage is on the line, and for Brych a really bizarre appointment.

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  12. Frankowski and Meler debuting in Champions League with Kavanagh not far behind, Haro and Taqi removed from WC 2022 pre-list while Ortega, Claus, Ramos and Elfath remain - what is a talented referee nowadays has changed SO much!

    My work returning to older WCs cautions against idealism, there were untalented referees at every tournament, but still - maybe I'm just old-fashioned, but I really miss the 'real' referees and leaders on the pitch of yesteryear.

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    Replies
    1. Has anyone been added to that list, or are people only removed from it? I don’t think I’ve ever watch Haro and Taqi but I’ve seen their names on WCQ assignments. What did you like about them specifically? And what do you dislike about Elfath and Ramos?

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  13. VAR appointments in CL group stage:
    6 - van Boekel, Dankert, Martinez, Hernandez
    5 - di Bello, Attwell, Irrati, Dingert, Gil
    4 - Stegemann
    3 - Letexier, Blom, Guida, Martins, Marciniak, Fritz, Bitigen
    2 - Sanchez, Kavanagh, Millot, Meshkov, Kamphuis, Valeri
    1 - Makkelie, Zwayer, Pinheiro, del Cerro Grande, Delajod, Reinshreiber, de Burgos, Tierney, Higler, Turpin

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Philipp, your analysis are always beautiful.

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    2. Most likely, the VARs for Euro will be selected from this group.

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  14. Appointments - Bundesliga Germany
    Matchday 10:

    7th December

    20:30 TSG Hoffenheim - FC Augsburg
    Florian Badstübner - Markus Schüller - Thorsten Schiffner - Tobias Reichel
    [Bibiana Steinhaus - Guido Kleve]

    ReplyDelete
  15. Marciniak at the bottom,Rosetti humiliated him to the end,cast him as Var in an irrelevant match,in addition to a rookie,
    you can see that Polish judging is far from Rosetti,Romania, Slovenia and the Netherlands are on top right now

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    Replies
    1. This is non-sense. Marciniak is now supporting an up-and-coming compatriot and will be back on the field in the KO phase, where his experience will be needed.

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  16. Is Letexier under ritirement from fifa list at the end of this year?

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    Replies
    1. Of course not ! He is a very young promising ref under focus of FFF and Garibian. Perhaps, Elite ref in few moments !

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    2. Last international match for his fourth official, who will be removed from FIFA List on 31 December 2020.

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  17. Seen on Belgian website.

    https://twitter.com/i/status/1335664897775050758

    Yellow card by ref Lambrechts (recently promoted to group 2)

    YC or RC to red player showing the referee "I played the ball"

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    Replies
    1. IMO a borderline situation, however I would slightly prefer a RC here, absolutely bad tackle.

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  18. Chechen - Why no matches for Sergei Karasev? Should we see him in Europa League?

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    Replies
    1. Briton - Why do you expect Chefren to be a Chechen?

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    2. Cheferin from Chechenia :D

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    3. Sorry I had missed this comment!
      BritRef indeed he has been appointed in Europa League.
      I'm curious about his future, will he attend EURO 2020?
      What do you think?

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  19. I'm surprised by no Oliver I thought he'd get a MD6 appointment

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    Replies
    1. Oliver had already 3 appointments.

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    2. Yes he did but I still thought that he'd get a game in group B

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    3. Oliver is not seen by UEFA as one of those refs who can get more than the "regular" 3 matches per group stage.

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    4. Oliver is not seen at the level of Taylor at moment, true, but given that Vincic has been appointed for Inter - Shakhtar I have a feeling that the English was a possible name for this game but committee avoided that due to the presence of an Italian team.

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    5. IFFHS is probably more surprised that Mike Dean didn't get a CL appointment...
      https://iffhs.de/index.php/posts/817

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    6. I don't know what uefa see in Taylor as Oliver is miles better than him.

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  20. After watching 4th episode of Man of the Middle I have a feeling that Björn Kuipers could very well be in Rosetti's head already for EURO's final. With Rosetti talking about him as a very experienced, huge quality ref. Would also be well deserved imo. By miles best referee in last 10 years.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dutch refereeing has the biggest fan pool on this blog for sure :-)

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    2. And for good reasons! Not only on this blog as you might have noticed, also in UEFA’s referee committee quality is recognized :-p

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  21. About Brych, he had some VAR interventions in Sevilla, not the best performance, so maybe this is the reason for which he gets a rather unimportant game, but still in Champions League.
    However, it is also true that there weren't so many options for him, as he already handled Ajax at home and he couldn't handle Lazio - Brugge due to Borussia Dortmund.
    One could wonder whether a not important game in CL is better than a crucial game in EL or not, but Brych doesn't appear in EL too often, this is by years...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree, that is a question, what does elite referee prefer - unimportant match in CL or crucial match in EL?
      We know they are paid the same for both matches so that should not be the criteria...

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    2. I disagree. The match is not so unimportant. Olympiakos had many complaints from the 2 last MD's and IMO this match needed an experienced referee.

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  22. Stéphanie Monzul7 December 2020 at 22:32

    Most important games of UEL last matchday are:

    Young Boys - Cluj
    Rapid Wien - Molde
    Napoli - Real Sociedad
    Rijeka - Alkmaar
    M. Tel-Aviv - Sivasspor
    Wolfsberg - Feyenoord

    Any predictions?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kateryna Frappart7 December 2020 at 22:41

      Young Boys - Cluj Irfan Peljto (BIH)
      Rapid Wien - Molde John Beaton (SCO)
      Napoli - Real Sociedad Kristo Tohver (EST)
      Rijeka - Alkmaar Petr Ardeleanu (CZE)
      M. Tel-Aviv - Sivasspor Marco Guida (ITA)
      Wolfsberg - Feyenoord Ivan Bebek (CRO)

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    2. Young Boys - Cluj: Oliver (ENG)
      Rapid Wien - Molde: Guida (ITA)
      Napoli - Real Sociedad: Karasev (RUS)
      Rijeka - Alkmaar: Kruzliak (SVK)
      M. Tel-Aviv - Sivasspor: Jug (SVN)
      Wolfsberg - Feyenoord: Grinfeeld (ISR)

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    3. As there are also several games with nothing to play for, we probably will see some more EL debuts.
      Candidates could be:
      Anufrijevs (LVA), Karlsson (SWE), Lambrechts (BEL), Robertson (SCO), Maresca (ITA), Tschudi (SUI)

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    4. @Philipp S Karlsson is with Ekberg in Kiev on tuesday so he probably won’t get a debut game

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    5. Bibiana Adámková8 December 2020 at 00:35

      Young Boys - Cluj Szymon Marciniak (POL)
      Rapid Wien - Molde Sergey Karasev (RUS)
      Napoli - Real Sociedad Michael Oliver (ENG)
      Rijeka - Alkmaar Alexey Kulbakov (BLR)
      M. Tel-Aviv - Sivasspor Felix Zwayer (GER)
      Wolfsberg - Feyenoord Benoit Bastien (FRA)

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    6. Zwayer is Corona-Positiv.

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    7. You boys made my day!

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  23. who do you think will be appointed for euro U 21 in may ?

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  24. I would like to ask about something that was longtime ago,Barca Milan quarterfinal in 2012, was Kuipers right about two penalties that he call that night

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    Replies
    1. I have watched the highlights and the penalties are both right , the first is a reckless tackle made by Ambrosini on messi's foot. In the second one Nesta holds Barcelona's player without watching ball and fall on him .

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  25. EL appointments are out!

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    Replies
    1. Stéphanie Monzul8 December 2020 at 09:33

      Then it's what's expected most

      Young Boys - Cluj Benoît Bastien (FRA)
      Rapid Wien - Molde Marco Guida (ITA)
      Napoli - Real Sociedad Orel Grinfeld (ISR)
      Rijeka - Alkmaar Sergei Karasev (RUS)
      M. Tel-Aviv - Sivasspor Andris Treimanis (LVA)
      Wolfsberg - Feyenoord Szymon Marciniak (POL)

      EL-Debut for Mykola Balakin (UKR)

      Delete
  26. Stéphanie Monzul8 December 2020 at 17:59

    Jonas Erni replaces Bekim Zogaj in Sandro Schärer's team.

    ReplyDelete