Second legs of 2021/22 UEFA Europa League Semifinals, referee appointments.
5 May 2022
21:00 CET - Glasgow (Ibrox Stadium)Rangers FC (SCO) - RB Leipzig (GER)
Referee: Artur Dias (POR)
Assistant Referee 1: Rui Tavares (POR)
Assistant Referee 2: Paulo Soares (POR)
Fourth Official: Ivan Kružliak (SVK)Video Assistant Referee: João Pinheiro (POR)
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Tiago Martins (POR)
UEFA Referee Observer: Carlos Velasco Carballo (ESP)
UEFA Delegate: Jānis Mežeckis (LVA)
Eintracht Frankfurt (GER) - West Ham United FC (ENG)
Referee: Jesús Gil Manzano (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Diego Barbero (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Ángel Nevado (ESP)
Fourth Official: José María Sánchez (ESP)Video Assistant Referee: Alejandro Hernández (ESP)
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Juan Martínez Munuera (ESP)
UEFA Referee Observer: Emil Bozhinovski (MKD)
UEFA Delegate: István Huszár (HUN)
Both are expected appointments. Soares Dias is rewarded for his good performance at Barcelona.
ReplyDeleteGil Manzano seems to have overtaken CDG in the eyes of UEFA.
Well, about the Spanish referees, one must also start to look at age, in all cases after WC 2022, both Del Cerro and Mateu should be rather at the end of career, it is normal to have now focus on Gil Manzano for the future and EURO 2024 first of all. So I think the most interesting thing will be still to understand who between them will attend WC, but it looks quite clear it will be Del Cerro...
DeleteAbout Soares Dias, it seems as now committee, differently from past, is more flexible with injures, they wait for referees, this was not the same in past, they changed when a referee was not available and even when he was back from an injury, he was not immediately assigned to a big game, even more for semifinals... this year it looks to be different first of all because there aren't many options, and then, in the particular case of Soares Dias, because he fully deserved this assignment after Barcelona - Eintracht, and I'm really gald for him, performance principle has been fully applied.
I think Meler was the second option at Rangers Leipzig.
DeleteSoares Dias received this SF (only) following his performance in Barcelona, and IMO a correct decision by Referee Committee.
Delete@Chefren: Why do you think, it looks quite clear that it will be del Cerro for the WC?
DeleteWith today's appointment, Gil Manzano seems to have the better standing currently with UEFA (CL QF + EL SF).
Maybe the remaining play-off appointments will tell us more.
Just because he is the Spanish planned name for Qatar, and it is very difficult to think that after having abolished age limits almost only to allow him to reach WC, then they change idea with Gil Manzano... we will see though.
DeleteSpanish referees in European competitions:
ReplyDeleteGil Manzano: 3 Group Stage + R16+R8 (CL) + UEL Semifinal.
DCG: 2 Group Stage + R16 (CL) + 2 Group Stage+1 Round of Classification (UEL)+ UECL Semifinal.
Mateu Lahoz: 2 Group Stage + R16(CL) +2 Group Stage+1 Round of Classification +R8(UEL).
Although there are still possibilities for DCG to reach the UECL Final, it seems clear that Rosetti is betting on Gil Manzano for the WC.
Zero opportunities for Mateu with the Spanish tradition of not repeating referees.
The favorite DCG (for WC) with two years at a low level is in danger. I hope that if he doesn't go to the World Cup at least he gets a final as a prize at the end of his career.
On-topic, here are some clips from Artur Soares Dias's game in Kuwait [VAR: T. Martins], namely Al-Kuwait vs. Kazma (9th April):
ReplyDelete1' - goal disallowed (offside) for Kazma [Mohamed - do you recognise this Kuwaiti FIFA AR?]
https://youtu.be/PkeozA3Fhfk?t=1
8' - caution to Kazma no.29 upheld after OFR (aggressive behaviour); management; AB vs. VC
https://youtu.be/PkeozA3Fhfk?t=415
26' - caution to Kazma no.17 (challenge); reckless vs. SFP
https://youtu.be/PkeozA3Fhfk?t=1525
36' - penalty area incident (foul)
https://youtu.be/PkeozA3Fhfk?t=2104
51' - penalty area incident (foul)
https://youtu.be/PkeozA3Fhfk?t=3180
78' - caution to Kazma no.2 (aggressive behaviour); AB vs. VC
https://youtu.be/PkeozA3Fhfk?t=415
87' - penalty area incident (handling)
https://youtu.be/PkeozA3Fhfk?t=5340
89' - caution to Al-Kuwait no.27 (tackle); reckless vs. SFP
https://youtu.be/PkeozA3Fhfk?t=5487
(BONUS: very funny and gif-able moment when one can easily lip read Soares Dias when talking to a protesting player: "I am the boss", he nonchalantly says! :D
https://youtu.be/PkeozA3Fhfk?t=1996)
BALANCE: Overall, I am slightly split how to assess this performance. Soares Dias presented a very concentrated and really firm impression (particularly regarding dissenting-ish behaviour), and as he so brilliantly stated at 34', he was definitely "the boss" on the pitch thanks to his approach. That being said, in order to 'pay' for this, I think his decision-making/prevention was a bit passive on some occasions. On the whole though, Artur Soares Dias was definitely good without question, and we saw a high-class performance in this match. I wish him well for his deserved assignment on Thursday night!
Said Martinez referees the 2nd leg of the Concacaf Champions League Final. Two very good yellow cards in the first half; you could have argued for one or two more but overall quite good. He's taking a slightly lenient line in general but really nothing extreme. Compared to how Concacaf has been in the past, he has shown very good disciplinary control. In the first half at least, there is a big difference in his quality from Barton's last week.
ReplyDeleteOne interesting play, the Seattle goal near the end of the half. The shot deflected off a defender's arm and into the net, and Martinez was about to blow for a penalty, but correctly signaled advantage. I think it would have been a very hotly-debated call had it not gone in; it feels harsh to me. The arm does make the body a little bigger but I don't see it as totally unnatural.
It's worth noting that Pumas have been really difficult to referee in this game, lots of borderline / reckless challenges and 14 fouls for them so far. So far Martinez has done what he's needed to do, let's see how the second half goes.
DeletePretty easy second half, not a lot of Martinez to do. There were a handful of borderline yellow cards he could have given, but anything that wasn't super clear he opted to keep the card in the pocket. That said, he gave the mandatory ones, and that was all that was needed. It would have been more interesting to see how the game would have gone if Seattle had not taken a lead, that made it easier to manage. Still, Martinez looked very alert, a few really good advantages, it felt like he saw everything and managed everything he had to. Slightly easier game that lacked the key incidents perhaps, but he looked much more natural than Barton in the first leg. I think Martinez is ahead of Barton now, which could have big implications for the World Cup.
DeleteAppointments in LaLiga MD35:
ReplyDeleteDe Burgos Bengoetxea for Mallorca-Granada (very crucial relegation game)
Soto Grado for Madrid derby Atlético-Real Madrid (Madrid are already Champions but this could be a very nasty game to referee since it's a derby and Atlético has refused to pay respects for Madrid's LaLiga title which is traditional here)
Mateu Lahoz for Betis-Barcelona
Gil Manzano for Villarreal-Sevilla
Then there are some games that are crucial for one of the teams involved and not so much for the other one (Celta-Alavés Cuadra Fernández, Cádiz-Elche Hernández Hernández, Athletic-Valencia Díaz de Mera Escuderos, Levante-Real Sociedad Alberola Rojas)
Melero López and specially Jaime Latre with meaningless games, so it might be a clue that they are among candidates for demotion.
I think Melero López is a clear candidate for demotion, but I have many doubts for the second place
DeleteFigueroa Vázquez. He is likely "resting" for a significant technical "mistake" in Valencia last weekend, as was Melero for the same thing in the same place two weeks before.
DeleteThe "mistake" being, for Figueroa, giving a IFK for simulation but deliberately not showing a (2nd) YC, something that is actually incorrect as the IFK is, by the law, for stopping the game to show a caution, which is the punishment for simulation. Law 12 says nothing about giving a IFK for trying to fool the referee.
DeleteMelero's performance was already analyzed here, and my guess is that it was for not giving Guillamón a mandatory YC for scoring a goal with his hand.
Both decisions are worth the relegation spot for me.
IMO, 2 referees from Andalusian comitee relegated the same year (Melero and Figueroa) is very hard to see, also considering that Medina Cantalejo was the former President for that regional comitee. I consider Melero as a clear one, too many years in Primera without required level. I think that 2nd name would come from Madrid comitee, Pizarro Gomez.
DeleteWith 4 matchdays to go, my 3 candidates for demotion in LaLiga are Melero López (for like, 5th season in a row? :D), Jaime Latre and Cordero Vega. One of them should be saved and the other two become VARs or retire.
DeleteBtw, this weekend there's a very important promotion game in 2nd division (Eibar-Valladolid) and Andalusian Luis Mario Milla Alvendiz has been appointed for it, so he could be a candidate for a potential 'swap' between Melero and him.
While I noticed Figueroa Vázquez's technical mistake in Valencian derby, I think that CTA will keep both him and Pizarro Gómez in LaLiga due to their experience handling ugly and tough games.
It is indeed the case that we think melero lopez is a candidate for demotion since many years. But I would say this season was definetely better than the last ones, so I would be a bit surprised to see him demoted this year.
DeleteI definetely think that Pizarro Gomez will stay in La Liga first devision as well, because all the games I saw him refereeing were quite well managed and he developed very well also since he started in La Liga a few years ago.
While I understand that Cordero Vega could be a candidate for demotion I think his modern style of refereeing will save him, as he allowes more physical play than some other spanish referees.
Figuera Vazquez is in my eyes first candidate for demotion because of very weak performances and also in my opinion general deficites. For example his body language is very weak and he really needs much more time than other referees for building a wall when free kicks called.
Second name could be jaime laitre I would say.
Hmmmm. After a long-ish break for AFC Champions League, the Saudi league has returned in the last couple of days. And now there is a very interesting development: the appointed referees of the two games today are Russian Sergej Karasëv and Belarusian Aliaksiej Kulbakou (flanked by regular ARs, VARs being Meškov and Veríssimo respectively).
ReplyDeleteSo UEFA want to keep them in practice, but away from the media glare (not of this blog though ;)). What do you think?...
You think that the football players of Russian national team have sth to do with the war? or the players and staff of Russian football clubs? But sactions are there for a reason, to make a domino effect that can produce (in Ucraine war for example) ... peace!
DeleteI don't think it is fair to keep Karasev out, he has no role in the decisions of the Russian government, same with Kulbakov. None of this is their fault, it's very unfair to punish them for it IMO. I wish UEFA would put them back on UEFA games immediately.
DeleteJust to note, I don't know if Karasyov and Kulbakou support the Russian aggression but according to polls around 80% people in Russia do. So, yes, I think it's the only possible option to ban all Russian sport people from international competitions. Even if some good people will be hurt, there is simply no better solution unfortunately.
DeleteAltay Izmir - Giresunspor
ReplyDeleteReferee: Cüneyt Çakır
Assistant Referee 1: Bahattin Duran
Assistant Referee 2: Tarık Ongun
Cüneyt Çakir is back with his ARs
YC 17 mins in. Lucky not to get a red. Now it's a red post OFR. A little harsh but yeah in the rules of the game that had to be a red.
ReplyDeleteOFR in Gil Manzano game: original decision YC, changed in RC for DOGSO. https://streamja.com/KLXMe
ReplyDeleteCrystal clear RC, should have been spotted live.
DeletePretty clear on OFR that Cresswell was not attempting to play the ball and pushed the Frankfurt player over. DOGSO sending off all day.
DeleteClear mistake by Gil Manzano, clear RC
DeleteTo be honest I'm pretty speechless that one of the considered best ≈fifteen referees in Europe can't detect and punish such a blatant DOGSO live on the FoP with a free line of sight. And I don't even mean that as explicit criticism against Gil Manzano.
DeleteRed Card for Moyes by Gil Manzano
ReplyDeletehttps://twitter.com/heggelund7/status/1522326840974659585
DeleteMoyes shoots in the direction of the ball boy. Correct RC for Coach by Gil Manzano
Agreed, the Portuguese was good for sure. I like his current focused and firm style, this is the best iteration of Soares Dias ever IMO. What do you think about the WC for him? It seems like he probably missed the boat and made his charge too late, but he surely remains in the reckoning to some extent at least.
ReplyDeleteNo, he is unlucky not to get more matches he deserved in the UCL, only two, his two performance was not bad aslo, still he was not assigned.
ReplyDeleteRice (West Ham) after the match accused Gil Manzano of corruption
ReplyDeletehttps://twitter.com/Yerdas_out/status/1522525837949640704?t=JaIN53p5W-BMcTzEx8Jm7g&s=19
That was very petty and immature from Declan Rice on accusing Gil Manzano of corruption post-match. I am truly hoping UEFA takes action against this.
DeleteYou know they won't. UEFA are soft and don't protect referees properly. Only need to look at PSG President for that.
Delete