2025/26 UEFA Champions League, KO Play-Offs: second legs, second set of games, 25 February 2026.
18:45 CET - Bergamo (New Balance Arena)
ATALANTA BC (ITA) - BORUSSIA DORTMUND (GER)
Referee: José María Sánchez Martínez ESP
Assistant Referee 1: Raúl Cabañero Martínez ESP
Assistant Referee 2: Íñigo Prieto López de Cerain ESP
Fourth Official: Juan Martínez Munuera ESP
Video Assistant Referee: Guillermo Cuadra Fernández ESP
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Carlos del Cerro Grande ESP
UEFA Referee Observer: Konrad Plautz AUT
UEFA Delegate: Kurt Zuppinger SUI
21:00 CET - Paris (Parc des Princes)
PARIS SAINT GERMAIN (FRA) - AS MONACO (FRA)
Referee: István Kovács ROU
Assistant Referee 1: Mihai Marica ROU
Assistant Referee 2: Ferencz Tunyogi ROU
Fourth Official: Szabolcs Kovacs ROU
Video Assistant Referee: Pol van Boekel NED
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Marco Di Bello ITA
UEFA Referee Observer: Sokol Jareci ALB
UEFA Delegate: Charles Schaack LUX
21:00 CET - Turin (Juventus Stadium)
JUVENTUS (ITA) - GALATASARAY (TUR)
Referee: João Pinheiro POR
Assistant Referee 1: Bruno Jesus POR
Assistant Referee 2: Luciano Maia POR
Fourth Official: João Gonçalves POR
Video Assistant Referee: Tomasz Kwiatkowski POL
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Jérôme Brisard FRA
UEFA Referee Observer: Martin Ingvarsson SWE
UEFA Delegate: Neil Morrow NIR
21:00 CET - Madrid (Estadio Santiago Bernabéu)
REAL MADRID CF (ESP) - SL BENFICA (POR)
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: Daniele Chiffi ITA
UEFA Referee Observer: Marinus Koopman NED
UEFA Delegate: Mauro Tonolini ITA
A few interesting decisions in the Scottish Premiership yesterday:
ReplyDeleteLivingston v Rangers https://youtu.be/n8a3MAoEueo?si=G7lF0dOirhihVuxV
2:20 - straight forward DOGSO red card.
4:25 - a lot of controversy. Nothing given on field, VAR judges it to be outside the penalty area (correctly) but not DOGSO red card so ultimately it was a play on.
There has been a number of DOGSO red cards in Scotland the last few weeks so I was surprised this wasn't.
Celtic v Hibernian https://youtu.be/VzMwxiT7eP0?si=cSeoaF8dxuVen0mJ
3:05 - OFR for violent conduct. Good intervention. Then immediately from the restart a penalty claim for holding (dismissed due to it being fleeting would be my guess).
Also from Saturday.
St Mirren v Motherwell https://youtu.be/VzMwxiT7eP0?si=cSeoaF8dxuVen0mJ
2.15 - RC for SFP overturned after OFR.
4.00 - RC on field for violent conduct supported by VAR.
Finally, Aberdeen vs Dundee. https://youtu.be/YFc5S7UtI7E?si=-EGBzyVRHgJfASJF
0.55 - penalty given on field, reviewed for inside outside. Decided it was inside but OFR for DOGSO red card as no intent to play the ball
https://youtu.be/0CVshHWeS9k?si=8G4gJh29LA-Amjv1
DeleteCorrect link to St Mirren v Motherwell
It should be Ahmed with Rosetti now.. Pinheiro got second appointments..
ReplyDeletePinheiro might be the only referee to officiate
ReplyDelete2 KO Play-Offs matches in a row
And, in the end, Pinheiro is the winner. Only referee with two games in the CL Play-offs. So very likely the switch of observers they made was also related to that, as originally there was a Portuguese observer here. One can easily guess, after first leg score and events, they changed the name. Big trust for Pinheiro, definitely loved by Rosetti, one can't exclude he will officiate a final at the end of this season, possible the Europa League, but there will be many candidates for sure.
ReplyDeleteAt the same time, one must discuss about the management by committee, surely once again we could say they could planned it better but it seems there are many factors they want to tale always into account.
The absence of Marciniak is one of the reasons, you can see Pinheiro with the Polish VAR, it's easy to say that the Polish would have got one of these games.
About the rest, expected choices in Bergamo, as guessed by Philipp, as well as in Paris. Kovacs very often assigned to PSG. Vincic in Madrid after the big controversy in both two recent games, MD8 and first leg of OK Play-offs.
Yes, the change could just have been Pinheiro for Marciniak in Juventus, forcing a change of observer due to nationality.
DeleteIn that case, there is no more indication, that Massa was a replacement. Which makes sense, because independent from the first leg result, he is a reasonably choice for the game in Newcastle.
Pinheiro now works in the 7th consecutive CL week!
If things go well on Wednesday, he will be indeed a candidate for late stages and finals and his chances for the WC will be higher than ever.
That was my opinion that I wrote last week in the blog , the best performance showed by a referee in first legs was joao calm , firm , respect the players I am not surprising if he appointed another game in champions league or Europe league next week
ReplyDeletePinherio, is that you
DeleteI guess so :)
DeleteChefren, I completely agree. Pinherio definitely wasn't the right referee for the second match. When the score was 5-2, a chance arose for a developing referee like Pinherio. And it certainly seems that referee assignments have changed depending on the score in the last few days.
ReplyDeleteI think it is not about love it is the performance
ReplyDeleteBig appointment for Sanchez Martinez ... Again surprised to see two spaniards get big appointments ..
ReplyDeletePinheiro present again, very surprising ..
I think Kovacs shouldn't have been used in that match, after the first leg, could have appointed someone else ...
Seeing Dingert here means that there was most likely no touch of hand from Esposito before Inter goal from last week.
ReplyDeleteI am bit surprised to not see Anthony Taylor getting a match. He would be an obvious choice for any of these 4 matches (maybe not Real vs Benfica given Mourinho’s recent past). Is he being kept for an EL clash or to the next CL round?
ReplyDeleteApparently, he can't do Italian teams (since the EL final) and German teams (since the EURO QF). And he just had PSG in January.
DeleteSo it was actually hard to find a game for him.
Even though we know “how it works” I found that kind of management unbelievable. Punish referees for an alleged mistake that took place 4y ago is outrageous IMO. What if a player misses a penalty or a gk conced an easy goal? Will they not play for 10 games in a row because of that?
DeleteSometimes clubs/politics seems to have a louder voice than who nominate
Yes I absolutely agree with jpl
DeleteI observe the following:
ReplyDelete• Performance principle is decisive. Hardly any political maneuvering. No extra push for Obrenovic. No Peljto or Schärer after barely any matches. No Zwayer. No Taylor. But “fallen” referees like Hdz Hdz and Siebert are getting opportunities again after strong performances. That’s fair.
• Hardly any Italians, and even Massa looks like a replacement. This clearly feels like Rosetti sending a message to Rocchi (similar to Carballo last season, who was “not amused” at one point—after which all Spaniards were sidelined). Now, it’s mainly the Spaniards benefiting from the Italian absence.
• Pinheiro: on the one hand, a strong signal of trust. On the other, it feels like they’re deliberately testing him further with the World Cup squad in mind. So far, his appointments have mainly involved football-focused teams.
We are possibly witnessing the start of UEFA RefCom's final push for João Pinheiro to be at the World Cup.
ReplyDeleteI don’t know who is pushing Pinheiro… Two playoff matches, what is going on?
ReplyDeleteAhmed
DeleteI think it is wrong one ref to two KO playoffs in row on this early stages of the knockout phase
DeleteChefren, I have a question for you: Is there a chance that Schärer returns to CL with a first leg eight final after his good performance in Istanbul?
ReplyDeleteYou can look at it two ways, really.
ReplyDeleteOn one hand, it is a strong political push for Pinheiro, to strengthen his case for a World Cup ticket.
On the other hand: Pinheiro getting this game could also mean he’s not a 100% lock yet and still has something to prove. Maybe he’s seen as a bit less nailed-on right now than Nyberg or Eskas.
Another scenario being he’s sadly not going to the World Cup and the ref comm looking to protect another name before Collina and Bussaca announce their final choices. ?
DeleteStill, if Pinheiro is under focus in order to decide if he will go or not at the WC, then why he is not observed by a Committee member in none of the games? Edward Foley and Martin Ingvarsson are not even in the Development or Convention Panels if I am not mistaken.
ReplyDeleteWe all need to congratulate Ahmed (maybe Pinhiero himself in disguise) for predicting this appointment.
ReplyDelete