The second semifinal of 2024-25 UEFA Champions League, to be played on 30 April 2025.
21:00 CET - Barcelona (Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys)
FC BARCELONA (ESP) - FC INTERNAZIONALE (ITA)
Referee: Clément Turpin FRA
Assistant Referee 1: Nicolas Danos FRA
Assistant Referee 2:
Fourth Official: François Letexier FRA
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Willy Delajod FRAVideo Assistant Referee: Jérôme Brisard FRA
UEFA Referee Observer: Alexandru Deaconu ROU
UEFA Delegate: David Pugh ENG
It is clear that Turpin's fortune in this case is determined by Letexier.
ReplyDeleteThe French in focus by committee would have also officiated this semifinal, in my opinion, but he had to leave it to his compatriot. He will only be the fourth official.
Last possible game for a French referee if PSG in final.
I wouldn’t be so sure of that. Here are my arguments :
Delete- Turpin is having a far better season than Letexier, both domestically and in European competitions. 0 OFR for Turpin in Europe, only 1 (!) in Ligue 1 on MD1 in August. Turpin is having one of his best seasons of his career. Letexier on the other hand is experiencing a very complicated season domestically (major controversies in 3 major games this season : OM-PSG, although he took the right decision, Monaco-PSG with Donnarumma’s infamous injury and Saint-Etienne-Lyon recently), and his European season is average at most (Leipzig-Juve was bad (2 OFRs), Real-Arsenal too (2 OFRs), Zagreb-Milan was not that good either (1 OFR)).
- To me, it is clear that Turpin and Mariani were swapped in the previous round, and it wouldn’t make sense if it wasn’t for giving Turpin a semi. Otherwise, you would exclude a Top 3 Elite from R16 onwards with no reason ? It wouldn’t make sense. I think there was a strategy to give Turpin a semi from several weeks and the previous appointments speak in favor of that.
- On the overall picture and the previous matches, Turpin looks to me like a safest pair of hands than Letexier. You notice that PO, R16 and QF can allow committee to let young referees (which Letexier still is !) gain experience (eg. Peljto, Eskas, Mariani), but SF is for top top flight Elite referees, the appointment of Vincic in ARSPSG speak in favor of that. Letexier still doesn’t belong to this category IMO, whereas Turpin fully does.
Turpin is clearly hidden domestically (conflict with Gautier?) and Letexier is under the spotlights. Turpin has had some big criticism recently on a Ligue 1 game where VAR failed to call him (as well). It is not that "black and white".
DeleteBut I concur with your analysis and am genuinely happy Turpin is rewarded for good performance
It was clear that it would be Turpin.
ReplyDeleteI hope 12 different referees in SF. Not that vincic or anyone else gets a second game next week.
You have to put out a wide range not a select type of referees.
He has to develop Rosetti, i hope he will do that 😀
Fully deserved IMO. A SF for Letexier would be too much pushing, which does not mean it was not planned at the beginning
ReplyDeleteUnlike the other SF this appointment is totally justified
ReplyDeleteSo far fully expected and predicted assignment in CL: Vincic and Turpin for 1st leg. If I have to think about the rest I would start from the final matches. I see four potential candidates for CL final on the paper: Taylor, Makkelie, Letexier and Kovacs. I'm convinced Taylor and Makkelie are ruled out after the path done so far. In addition the english cannot be appointed in case of Arsenal and Inter too (due to what happened with Rome in the EL final few years ago). The dutchman is in title but honestly nothing during this season seems work in this direction. The appointment of Letexier (if PSG allows it) would be a bad management since the one would have been rewarded with Euro2024 and CL finals in less than 12 months. What's next ? Only WC final, it would risky for keeping him motivation. I guess that Europe League final would be the right award for Letexier and his excellent performance. So I'm 95% sure the man in the middle in the CL final will be Kovacs. Finally Zwayer would be a good candidate for Conference league final.
ReplyDeleteSo excluding Kovacs, Letexier and Zwayer from semifinal appointments, I would see:
Inter-Barcellona: Makkelie
PSG- Arsenal: Marciniak (100% sure to get one CL semifinal)
EUROPE LEAGUE:
1st Leg: Nyberg and Sharer
2nd leg: Peljito and Eksas
CONFERENCE LEAGUE:
1st league: Oliver, Gil Manzano
2nd league: Siebert, Massa
why still stuck with Makkelie I don't understand. after his bad performance in Benfica - Barcelona to handle another Barcelona games and this time in the second leg of a semifinal. he didn't had a KO game and sent already to semifinal, I don't think so. I think, it will be Marciniak and Zwayer for the second leg.
DeleteKovacs' prediction makes a lot of sense. 4th official in the 2023 UCL final, 2024 EL final... you just have to join the dots. Besides he's the only big gun who was spared a Nations League quarterfinal; last international match before the final would be a not-so-high-profile 1st leg EL quarterfinal and we all know how UEFA try to shield the chosen one before the big final.
DeleteLetexier with a final after the game in Madrid? I would hope not but with this committee everything is possible.
DeleteDon't forget Oliver in case PSG advances! For me, the No.1 candidate.
But if ARS advances, I would hope that the surprise will hopefully be Zwayer, but with ARS I think more about Kovacs…third final in three years? Only with an Italian boss who doesn't contribute anything that's possible ;)
Eredivisie: Almere City - Go Ahead Eagles
ReplyDeleteIt was a quiet week for Dutch referees for the first time in a while, but it was a different story for Jeroen Manschot, who took charge in the final game of the weekend.
1. He was given a correct YC in the 7th minute but did not give a second YC a minute later, even though the same player had stopped a clearly promising attack. No one could find an explanation for this, and so he has been criticised for haggling, not wanting to give an early RC.
https://youtu.be/XPoBfrjgF2Q?t=84
2. A highly debatable moment from the same match: Is it justified to disallow a goal? Things get complicated when the keeper drops the ball before contact. Many people therefore considered this a clear error. However, if the contact prevents the keeper from reacting in time to the next situation, the attacker may be punished. Of course, it is difficult to say whether this contact was a foul play or not.
https://youtu.be/XPoBfrjgF2Q?t=454
No RC thing is very debatable.
DeleteIMO ,clear 2nd YC.
But it's not 100% clear,there can be arguments that players were there,ball was away so there can some arguments if you want to justify his decision.
But as I say,imo clear RC.
OT: This is a complex scenario that raises serious questions about the accountability of the AFC, once again involving Hani Ballan. In my opinion, this is a serious mistake that should never occur at the highest level. Hani Ballan must be held responsible for this issue.
ReplyDeletehttps://x.com/issasaid232/status/1916620764905660586
https://web.gekisaka.jp/news/jleague/detail/?423965-423965-fl
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/bb151fc1ec77a431202ef8d29c5bae46ef394aef
The AFC Referees Committee has committed a catastrophic error during QF ACL Elite 2025 Kawasaki Frontale-Al Sadd by appointing Chinese referee Fu Ming as the VAR official.
Fu Ming officially transferred to the Japanese league this year and has officiated a match there.
This raises serious questions about impartiality and conflict of interest.
To our experts on this blog, what do you think? Did we have same situation in UEFA?
IMO the actions of AFC RefCom show that they simply don't care about refereeing and just make appointments according to the political key. Nothing is gonna surprise me there, to be honest. I can't imagine worse management than in nowadays AFC...
DeleteOT. some interesting from Romanian League 1. yesterday was a classic Rapid - Fcsb, with Radu Petrescu and Hategan in VAR room. here is the most controversial phase of the game. https://m.digisport.ro/fotbal/liga-1/faza-controversata-la-rapid-fcsb-giulestenii-au-cerut-penalty-tarnovanu-si-christensen-in-prim-plan-3560029. what do you think about it? for me it's penalty. and could be also of red card for the goalkeeper or not?
ReplyDeletesorry, here it's more clear the phase. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7N0Menu7GF4&ab_channel=FotbalRomania
ReplyDeleteIf the referees assessed that the attacker - after the touch - wouldn't have reached the ball anymore (and I think it's the case here), the goalkeeper's action is only careless, so therefore no penalty would be the correct outcome according to UEFA guidelines.
Deleteso the goalkeepers could make careless foul and no penalty, but when defenders does careless foul are penalty. i don't understand you. and all the romanian exreferees told that was clear penalty and someone said that could be also a RC for SFP.
DeleteOT:
ReplyDeleteThere are some rumours that Fabbri has been suspended cause he ignored VAR yesterday on Inter -Roma match.
Big (no) decision that could determine champion of Italy.
12:45
https://youtu.be/deCKuXIpBeQ?si=FumhmPIVIjrDSrce
Don't know where you heard about Fabbri suspension.
DeleteIt's unlikely that he ignored VAR, just stay at the facts.
I think that Di Bello (VAR) made a clear mistake here in not calling referee to OFR. A very clear penalty: long holding without any action by attacker, who was impeded in his action to reach ball. Once again, we have this unacceptable difference between serie A and UEFA. While in UEFA the holdings are serious stuff (we can think again at Letexier last game), in Italy everything is allowed. The argument for this decision by VAR should be that holding was not made with intensity, but well, it was very long, one sided, and in the middle of the action. One can't know what is a clear and obvious mistake anymore. Di Bello is a VAR who does't intervene that much, and he confirmed this trend. But in Inter - Roma, it was absolutely impossible to ignore. You can see very often I have doubts about some calls we see at UEFA about holding, just because, I admit, I come from this domestic wrong mentality where everything is allowed. For me a clear foul and VAR should have intervened, there aren't arguments to say "not enough".
BTW I think the video you linked is available only in your country, I will post a clip later.
Short clip:
Deletehttps://streambug.org/cv/dcb87f
To add, AIA didn't want to show the VAR clip for this incident.
They showed other situations from other games but not this one.
It's always hard to admit mistakes, but well, to me, Rocchi has already lost all his credibility and this is just a confirmation.
Some page wrote it on social networks about his punishment.
DeleteYep, big difference between UEFA and Serie A.
Lots of Kovacs-predictions for the UCL final. No offense, absolutely no hate from my side, but I have my doubts.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn’t exclude Zwayer. The German turns 44 y.o. in May and the final is in Germany. The other option is an English (Oliver?) if Arsenal are eliminated. Kovacs has plenty of time, he still has to officiate at a FIFA World Cup and he will ALWAYS be a neutral option in next years. Add the fact that Barcelona were not so satisfied last season? I think the Romanian will get it in 2026, in Budapest.
I assume we will see Marciniak and Kovacs in the return legs of the UEFA Champions League. The main reason Vincic was assigned to a 1st leg is because the Slovenian will also officiate the UEL RETURN (the one in Manchester).
Fun fact: Vincic was fourth official in the Liverpool-Villarreal semifinal in the 2021-22 season and then officiated the Europa League final, seeing how the committee loves Letexier mmmmm I would not rule out the same thing happening this season.
ReplyDeleteAgree. Especially with two English teams still in and Lyon out. And Zwayer being a candidate to officiate something big in his home country, hmmm.
DeleteI didn't know that Oliver was at WC in Qatar and first at all how a referee without a Conference or Europe League final can go straight to have the Champions League final. Also, Vincic first he had European League final and then Champions League final not straight to CL final. Zwayer could be a candidat for the final if they are PSG or Arsenal vs Barcelona. And for the Nations League final who are your favorite? Because it will be played also in Munich and Zwayer had a final in this competition. Could be a compensation for Kovacs if he didn't get CL final?
DeleteIn the past 10 years, 6 out of 10 have got a CL final directly
Delete2015 - Cakir
2016 - Clattenburg
2018 - Mazic
2020 - Orsato
2021 - Mateu Lahoz
2023 - Marciniak
Yes, referees from top-5 countries can be managed differently it seems. They can get a Champions League final without a Conference League- or Europa League final experience. Btw don’t forget that Oliver has done a QF in Qatar and a QF at Euro 2024 without major issues. And a Supercup, but that’s a semi-friendly cup. Oliver has more tournament experience than Kovács, so to say.
DeleteAnd Mazic was a matter of age. Since Zwayer turns 44 next month, I would not exclude him as UCL final candidate, especially as a referee from a top-5 country and with a final in München. There was also a strong lobby to give the final in Paris to Turpin….
Agree, Oliver's resume weighs more than Kovacs's. I add QF of the EURO 2020 and final of the 2015 U17 World Cup to Oliver's resume.
DeleteThe truth is that if PSG advances I see Oliver in Munich, especially with a possible hot duel in every sense PSG-Barcelona.
I agree. The fact that the English are very restricted (English teams) in all competitions and Zwayer being a neutral choice in all three UEFA finals could be an argument against the German nomination in the Champions League final. On the other hand, his age and the home ground (Münich) are probably arguments pro-Zwayer.
DeleteFor me, neither Zwayer nor Oliver have the necessairy experience, especially in CL QF or SF or am I wrong? But probably this is not required...
DeleteHow about Antonio Taylor for CL final?
DeleteProbably one of the oldest Premier League debuts this weekend with David Webb taking charge of Leicester Vs Southampton...
ReplyDeleteGreek Superleague
ReplyDelete04-05-25
AEK vs Panathinaïkós
Enea Jorgji, Denis Rexha, Ridiger Çokaj - Pol van Boekel
Olymbiakós vs PAOK
Deniz Aytekin, Eduard Beitinger, Martin Thomsen - Patrick Hanslbauer
OT: The greatest Asian referee, Alireza Faghani, is back on duty at the QF ACL Elite Finals 2025 in Jeddah, Kawasaki Frontale vs Al Nassr. It's refreshing to see the legend again despite the decline of AFC referees due to poor management from the Refcom.
ReplyDeleteHT: Unexpectedly good performance by Kawasaki. It could be a challenging second half for Faghani despite a calm first half. A very football-focused game so far.
Al Nassr are out, this result it's game changer. If Al Ahli-Al Nassr on the final definitely Tantashev for the final, but now Al Ahli-Kawasaki, Salman Falahi with Fu Ming as VAR could be a set. So atm Ballan vs the power of Irmatov.
DeleteFalahi and Tantashev were in the last finals so I don't think so, I bet on Ahmad Al-Ahli (KUW)
DeleteIndeed Ahmad Al Ali has emerged as a fresh contender (having never previously taken charge of a final, but we know how many names like Irmatov, Al Kaf, Ma Ning lead the final in previous format 2 legs) to officiate the AFC Champions League final. In contrast, Ilgiz Tantashev, despite being from a neutral country, has not been assigned to any match so far, and Salman Al Falahi only served as FO in the QF. If Al Ali is selected, it would further highlight the ongoing concerns regarding the bureaucracy inside AFC Refcom. There is a clear risk that the final could resemble the controversy of the 2023 Asian Cup final, which involved three OFR leading to 3 PK decisions for the host Qatar. As if I'm not mistaken, Al Ali is known for frequently awarding soft penalties and if that happened, it wouldn't be "a final", just (again) another giveaway for "the host".
DeleteMakkelie with a good performance in Cyprus. He managed the players well, despite their poor and unsportsmanlike behavior. Lots of exaggeration and many fouls. He judged the penalty situations correctly and the players accepted his authority. That’s quite different from what we often see with local referees.
ReplyDelete1st half faultless by turpin, great job
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. One or two tough plays by the Italian defenders in Yamal that made us wonder if it was YC or not, but very well managed by Turpin. Great performance by the Frenchman so far.
DeleteGood decision by AR1 to disallow goal.
ReplyDeleteMasterclass by Turpin so far, as always.
ReplyDeleteExcellent Turpin: he whistled fouls, he did not whistle when there were simulations, he gave mandatory YCs according to the rules. This is the difference between a referee and one who takes the field to make the easiest decisions and avoid problems, like someone who whistles a simulation so as not to displease a team, but does not give the second mandatory YC so as not to displease the other team. There were a few mistakes (unseen hand foul in the second half, not good management of the added time in the first half, etc.), but it matters little: this is refereeing
ReplyDeleteAnother masterclass, maybe not as perfect as last year (Bayern-Real) but it's an inane performance with a huge intensity game, good foul detection? Very good decisions too by AR, that's why is one of the best in the world.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this match, excellent performance by Turpin. A pleasure to watch him
ReplyDeleteClément Turpin is a top class referee, episode 274.
ReplyDeleteWell done to the French crew ! Excellent performance tonight in a truly enjoyable game.
Very well done by Turpin. His only mistake was a missed obvious handball on a dangerous Inter counterattack in the second half. Aside from that, a top class display.
ReplyDeleteMasterclass of Clement Turpin.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I admire about Turpin is his great ability to maintain consistency and unwavering focus, even in the tightest moments of a match. Vincic, for example, did not interfere in the outcome of yesterday's match in London, but sometimes I am disappointed by the questionable decisions he makes. The PSV vs. Juventus game is an example of how he needs to impose himself more on the disciplinary side.
ReplyDeleteMasterclass by Turpin and his crew : bravo !
ReplyDeleteI was very unlucky today, couldn't watch the game, but nice to read that Turpin had a very good performance. It seems, reading the number of the fouls and cards, that it was rather a football focused game, but still a referee can manage to make a good impression.
ReplyDeleteThe French would have reached the stars if he had performed well at EURO 2024. After Rosetti observation one year ago in CL KO stage and the EURO Opener, it looked he had all the rights to dream. But then, that tournament was his biggest problem, and I think he was a bit forgotten by committe also for this reason. He deserved to end without the final, but then after the tournament, chances to be back again at very top and indeed he succeeded.
Letexier deserved what he got but a small reason of his explosion was also "thank" to that game by his colleague at EURO, indeed Turpin experienced the most problematic games with the worst timing (mostly only during big tournament), however I think he has still chances with WC 2026.
We will see what he will manage to get in future, having still to make a certain "competition" with Letexier.
I agree that Letexier deserved Euro final more than Turpin in 2024 when comparing their respective tournaments. Turpin lost it all during the opener, and especially that PY+RC at the end of the first half which he didn’t see live. England-Slovenia was good and Netherlands-Turkey was excellent.
DeleteHowever, if he doesn’t whistle a major final in WC or Euro before the end of his career, I couldn’t help but feeling a bit sad for him. I think 2024 was his time, and he lost it because of one single unfortunate incident. He would have deserved it on behalf of his career, under this aspect more than Letexier for now. But well, this is not how it works. I’m afraid his time for a very big final has passed.
And the fact that France went to the WC 2022 final was really bad for him, he got the UCL final that year and was excellent, he was in course until the end in this WC but all end bad for him, maybe something that change is carreer. So, same i hope that i will get WC or Euro final one day or this Letexier Euro final appointment will haunt him i think.
DeleteYes, Turpin should certainly be the European No. 1 candidate to referee next year's World Cup final, but of course, I'm hoping that the French team doesn't make it to the final. lol
DeleteGenerational referee, excellent Turpin as usual ... I really hope he gets rewarded with a World Cup final ... Just remarkable refereeing everytime I watch him .. No arrogance, great communication and he is respected by all football players on the pitch!
ReplyDeleteI dont know i really dont agree with you guys that it was a masterclass by Turpin . I felt like every 50-50 decision went to Barcelonas favour , also there was a clear foul missed by the referee after Inter player put it into the corner after that Barcelona scored
ReplyDeleteTotally agree. Even a clear Martinez's hand in 2H when Barella went straight to the goal.
DeleteAlso this yes . Barella will go clear 1v1 chance vs goalkeeper and Turpin in perfect vision from behind misses the call with Barcelona defender clearing the situation with his arm . Would love to see some replays from Chefren .
DeleteDisagree with this for me that was a natural position as the defender just put his hands on the back of the attacker without pushing just putting hands on his back so nothing to whistle here for me.
DeleteI always think that when someone watches a game and comments on a referee's performance based almost exclusively on which team received more fouls in their favor, these people always have the eyes of a fan and not of a neutral person who wants tom understand more about refereeing. These are discussions that I have never liked, because on this basis. it is stated on paper that a referee has a trend to whistle for that team, rather than the other. Refereeing is made up of decision-making, moments, I'll just say that in my opinion seeing it this way is very reductive and superficial, and it seems to be an exclusive analysis of the impact it had on the two teams. In my opinion, one can comment in detail on foul detection but on the basis of what is whistled or not, then the rest is not important.
ReplyDeleteA journalist at Twitter claims that he knows who is appointed to Inter - Barca. If this is true, then UEFA has a very big problem with leaking appointments
ReplyDeleteThere is only one realistic option for that game IMO. Frankly, every person with some knowledge of refereeing can do an ‘educated guess’ and pretend they have inside information ;-)
DeleteIt is not a difficult prediction, there is still a small factor of risk for sure, but it is really minimal, and a person with a minimum of knowledge, matching information, and maybe reading from this blog :), can guess the referee, and then make these statements.
DeleteBut the leaks this season have really been evident in the previous rounds, and perhaps it wouldn't change that much the reality.
The committee doesn't seem to care as much about these things as before, even if the assignments remain confidential: it is evidently a sign of the times where nowadays it is difficult to keep something secret, in this society that always wants to know everything before the expected time.
Szymon Marciniak will be the referee for the Inter - Barcelona match
Delete