The referees in charge of 2025/26 UEFA Champions League quarterfinals, second legs, second set to be played on 15 April 2026.
FC BAYERN MÜNCHEN (GER) - REAL MADRID CF (ESP)
Referee: Slavko Vinčić SVN
Assistant Referee 1: Tomaž Klančnik SVN
Assistant Referee 2: Andraž Kovačič SVN
Fourth Official: David Šmajc SVN
Video Assistant Referee: Dennis Johan Higler NED
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Pol van Boekel NED
UEFA Referee Observer: Hugh Dallas SCO
UEFA Delegate: Andrey Medintsev BUL
ARSENAL FC (ENG) - SPORTING CP (POR)
Referee: François Letexier FRA
Assistant Referee 1: Cyril Mugnier FRA
Assistant Referee 2: Mehdi Rahmouni FRA
Fourth Official: Stéphanie Frappart FRA
Video Assistant Referee: Bastian Dankert GER
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Bram Van Driessche BEL
UEFA Referee Observer: Gylfi Þór Orrason ISL
UEFA Delegate: Angelo Chetcuti MLT
I just saw the penalty awarded by Massa to Como last night. Originally, he had awarded the free kick outside the penalty area after a short time (not fully convinced, I think), then VAR changed the decision to penalty without asking to review it, so supporting the decision. But that's a clear and obvious error! How can you justify the penalty? The Inter player performed his move while remaining within his own area and not touching the opponent at all, but attempting to block the shot, and was then kicked by the opponent himself.
ReplyDeleteIt's very questionable to see a foul: fortunately, the penalty didn't influence the final result, but once again, hard to understand about certain technical evaluations, at least as far as I'm concerned.
Tomorrow, however, the committee should reveal more about this decision by publishing VAR clip.
Video of the incident:
https://streambug.org/cv/ce8cbe
Vincic no surprise he gets this match so he should be out for the semi finals, And in London it shouldn't be the other French (Letexier) probably an experience ref will be trusted
ReplyDeleteLast season, Vincic officiated the second leg of the QF between Bayern and Inter, then he officiated the first SF match between Arsenal and PSG. I am sure that if everything goes well on Wednesday, he will officiate the SF again.
DeleteEven if not goes well he is officiate
DeleteFirst time I agree with you, Abdiaziz (!)
DeleteUEFA has no other options for SF.
But it's not so much a choice as it is pure personal desire
DeleteAbdiaziz i think for SF will be Pinhero😁 common
DeleteEredivisie:
ReplyDeletea) FC Utrecht - SC Telstar
Referee: Makkelie/ VAR: Higler
No foul in APP and goal decision
https://youtu.be/6xLpUBc9HOs?t=183
Makkelie seemed unfazed, but Didden placed his foot on top of his opponent's ankle and applied some weight to inflict damage.
Higler did not intervene. Makkelie is still not back to his usual form. If something like this happened at the World Cup, they'd probably have to return home
b) NEC - Feyenoord
Referee: Gözübüyük / VAR: Van Boekel
No DOGSO decision
https://youtu.be/Rfi_3hI76QM?t=31p
It was very logical for Gözübüyük, who has the complete trust of the KNVB this season, to referee the game between third and second place at this stage. Feyenoord, who have been having a disastrous season, put up an unexpected fight, making it a hard-fought and challenging match for the referee.
Ueda (Feyenoord-forward)controlled the ball well, but it wasn't perfect. It left his feet and went slightly to the right, not towards the goal. Seeing this, Crettaz also starts heading towards the ball. Ueda has a running start, while Crettaz doesn't have much. Where will the two of them reach the ball? If Ueda reaches it first, how wide is the goal for him?
Van Boekel called Gözübüyük over to the screen. Frankly speaking, I get the impression that Van Boekel (He has not taken charge of any matches in the Eredivisie this season, but has been working as a VAR official in every round) has become a little easier to intervene in this season than before.
It's unclear whether Gözübüyük made the original decision on the field regarding the DOGSO situation. Was he already thinking on the field, "Even if it's a foul, it's not DOGSO"? In any case, the final decision was YC.
I support that. Fortunately, even in the Netherlands, not everyone believes this is 100% RC.
c) Sparta Rotterdam - PSV
Referee: Bos / VAR: Teuben
The goal was disallowed due to an attacking handball(?) by a player who did not score.
https://youtu.be/ax9txaGDSuQ?t=28
PSV are already champions, so this isn't a major event. But it's been a while since I've seen such a strange decision. The ball did hit Til's arm, but it was Gasiorowski who scored the goal. Bos canceled the score based solely on audio from Teuben, without even watching the video himself.
Hi Anass, nice clips.
Delete1. The ball is clearly played first, and then the contact occurs in the challenge. The player gets up immediately and does not protest. I understand why Makkelie did not award a foul live, and since the ball is played, there is no intervention from the VAR.
2. An interesting situation in terms of DOGSO. The ball does go slightly to the right, and the question is whether the goalkeeper would have reached it before the Feyenoord attacker. Because he falls, he completely loses speed in his action. I understand that this is a difficult decision, but Gözübüyük did not even award a foul.
3. The handball by the attacker is not deliberate or punishable, and he does not score himself. This should be a valid goal, as the teammate scores.
Today, KNVB will announce the referee for the cup final. Danny Makkelie officiated it last year, and I think Allard Lindhout will get it this time.
Excellent decision from Makkelie, as always.
DeleteAbout the discision of Gözübüyük: it surprised me he didn't blew the wistle. Is that the VAR-mentality?
DeleteAnd: VAR Van Boekel wanted Gözübüyük to watch the incident, so it has te be a clear and abvious mistake. And Van Boekel thinks it's a RC, otherwise he cannot intervene (its ooutside the box). The Feyenoord-attacker cant reach the ball juist by the fault. I think it's a big fault of Gözübüyük.
Probably the first time, that the same VAR is used in both legs of a match.
ReplyDeleteGood appointments for Slavko Vinčić and François Letexier, as expected.
ReplyDeleteAbout the semifinals and the final: committee must be very careful.
ReplyDeleteThey don't have a vast choice, given that big games are always assigned in a certain way and all 5 (semifinals and final) will be big games for sure.
We have Marciniak out, Kovacs very likely out (but we can't know for sure about thim), no Spanish referees, hard to see a German (maybe Siebert in case, but rather astonishing for Zwayer).
We should also consider the nationality of the clubs that will be there: Arsenal and maybe Liverpool can make it hard for Oliver, then PSG in case could rule out the French (but they already get many assignments). Then, we have only Mariani about Italy, but after a sonorous clash in quarterfinals, maybe hard to think that he will get a semifinal as well.
The big very neutral option for all games at moment is represented by Makkelie, but apart from him, all the other referees have to wait for something before getting a possible assignment.
So in my opinion committee could even prepare or open to some surprises, at least for semifinals: the first name, given how he has been managed so far and the performances, for a possible semifinal assignment, would be Eskas. Nyberg and Schaerer would follow, but we know what about the Swiss (nevertheless, still possible, but surprising in case, with a few games during the season due to injury) and about the Swedish, in my opinion, there is always a small doubt.
No other names after that, and, despite of what committee thinks, they are in this condition also because they used always mostly same names for big games. There isn't a real development.
However, we will see how things will go. Now it's early, we could say more after knowing the names of the teams that will qualify for semifinals.
+1 there's been no outstanding development for sure, Early today I wrote that Letexier was not suitable for the clash in London but it was already going to be him confirmed which means the likes of Nyberg did a mistake somewhere that we swept under the rug, consecutive UEL matches does look good for him hence going to the World cup
DeletePlease allow me to disagree with you in the way we see it is easy to expect that the semi final will not beyond for the France, slovenia, Italy referees
DeleteAhmed, it all depends on nationality of semi finalist that's French and English hopes will be lying
DeleteI don't believe we will see some thing new in semifinal
ReplyDeleteI do believe it will be an extremely hard game for Vincic, and no matter the result I do feel like he will find his name in the press, after all the proof is is in the pudding with the Spanish media slating Kovacs.
ReplyDeleteOr how German media handled Marciniak 2 years ago… Bayern fans are still (!) talking about him… for what? Only they know…
DeleteMy reading is that Letexier is a lock for a final, UEL or UCL, because otherwise they would compensate Letexier with the SF2, between Barcelona/Atletico and Arsenal/Sporting.
ReplyDeleteSF1 PSG/Liverpool - Bayern/Real
Delete1st: Hernandez, Scharer
2nd: Vincic, Marcinaik, [Kovacs]
SF2 Barca/Atm - Arsenal/Sporting
1st: Mariani, Nyberg, Eskas, Mackelie
2nd: Vincic, Turpin, Marciniak
Why are people unironically picking Hernandez Hernandez for a UCL SF (or even F!!) is beyond me. Surely the “controversial” WC selection is enough? God forbid.
DeleteScharer observed by Carballo is more realistic maybe
DeleteHi Odin. I like your profile picture! I think it will be difficult for the credibility of the UEFA referees committee to award the Champions final to Letexier for the following reason - his appointments display that he is not the referee from his own country that savours the most trust in terms of level. Here are the latest two sets of relevant désignations:
DeleteWORLD CUP
Letexier to Turkey-Romania SF
Turpin to Bosnia-Italy Final
CHAMPIONS
Letexier to Arsenal-Sporting leg2
Turpin to Atletico-Barcelona leg2
It is not to say that Letexier has been given 'easy' games, indeed no Champions League quarterfinal is easy and Turkey-Romania could be identified as one of the two most difficult playoff semifinals, but the difference in treatment is quite clear. If UEFA wanted to prepare Letexier for the Champions League final, I think they would have given him a match in a different competition like NottsForest-Porto with an important assessor, in order to signpost that. Giving Letexier what one could describe as 'the same sort of appmnt as Turpin but (probably) not as difficult' twice in a row is probably the sort of impression that UEFA would want to avoid before a final.
In WC2010, Viktor Kassai did have a genuinely outstanding match which forced a necessary recalibration of his level (Uruguay-Mexico); this is rather different to Letexier, who won the Euro final appointment after three good and expected level performances, but no 'WOW!' factor match. I don't think it is unfair to say that Rosetti appointed Letexier for that final partly to upkeep his own credibility, given that the mark he personally would have awarded Turpin for the opener cannot have exceeded 7,4. Here, the shoe is on the other foot: it probably come across as excessively favourable towards Letexier if he were to be awarded the Champions final in 2026.
In the history of the Champions League, no referee from a country still involved in the Champions League has ever taken charge of a semifinal second leg. I don’t think this rule will be broken in 2026. One can suppose it is likely that PSG will still be in the competition in forty-eight hours time. I also don’t think that Letexier will referee the same team in Europe two matches running. In terms of eligibility, the same factor that would rule out one of the other main candidates (qualification to the final of PSG) is the same for Letexier. In case of a non-PSG final, I still think UEFA would rather appoint Letexier than Siebert, if circumstances were to arise in such a manner.
So, insofar as it matters, I would change the preference tier list to look like this:
1) Oliver vs. Makkelie
2) Letexier
3) Siebert
Thank you. Interesting backgrounds. Can the French be a candidate for the UEL final? UEL final can be a bridge or sort of compromise between rewarding Letexier for reputation and the way he influenced modern refereeing. At the same time keeps him motivated to still aim for the UCL. The French VAR Jerome Brisard hasn't done the UEL, too.
DeleteIs there really any scenario where Siebert has a chance, I believe that a referee who officiates a CL final must have huge experience, because it is one of the biggest achievements in a refereeing career?
Delete@Odin: I think you have to be careful with statements like "influenced modern refereeing". Letexier is very (very) good but stylistically, he isn't doing anything new or that revolutionary (again, one can contrast to Kassai in 2010 here). Where he does stand out 'refstoriographically' is in his outstanding use of facial expressions, to earn fellowship/understanding from the players, but I would say that is it. About the EL final: Letexier must be in the running for that appointment but, in my personal opinion, he would only get it if PSG qualify for the CL final, because otherwise it flies too close to acknowledging the point 'Rosetti only gave Letexier the Euro final to save his own credibility'. It is easy though to overthink things!
Delete@Pro: I can't see any other candidate in terms of credibility/possibility to handle a PSG-Arsenal final. Any other constellation would make Siebert's chances as low/zero; his would be the weakest appointment to the CL final in thirty-one years (imo).
Mikael, I'm curious to know who you thought was the weakest referee in a Champions League final. When you mentioned 31 years, I thought you might be referring to Craciunescu, who handled the 1995 final.
DeleteI barely remember the 1995 final. Perhaps the lowest-level final I recall is Terje Hauge's.
I think Siebert is a very good referee, but he still has to prove himself to referee a Champions League final.
There are excellent referees who didn't officiate a Champions League final, for various reasons, and who, in my opinion, deserved it: Rosetti, López Nieto, Frisk, Van der Ende, De Bleeckere, Melo Pereira, Dallas...
PSG-Arsenal, Maybe I have a simple mind. The clubs deserve the best official and if that is currently Mackelie, they should go with it. He is a cool head, I don’t see him buckle under extra pressure. It helps that PSG overcame their UCL trauma last year with the win. . Rosetti's reputation is at stake, he knows he takes a bigger risk with Siebert, Guida or a Spanish.
DeleteGood question Xabi, I want to know this too.
About the old finals: the weakest referee in terms of final performance was definitely not Craciunescu - he did well back then and his refereeing was good. His appointment stands out as being the most 'off the wall' in the Champions League era I think, in the same manner that a PSG-Arsenal final would force this time round (this is what I meant when talking about the appointment). I don't think Siebert getting the CL final would be much different in expectation to Letexier doing the last Euro final, and the Frenchman's performance in that game was very good. However, this is one specific matchup for this season's final and we shouldn't get too ahead of the situation (and the same is true for my EL final remarks above).
DeleteI'd agree that Hauge stands out as having made the most negative contribution to his CL final as a referee, but you have to remember that there was a big drama before the game where his linesman, Borgan, was taken off the match at very late notice and understandably it must have unsettled the Norwegian a lot. The two CL finals which stand out as having featured a very high level of refereeing in my view are those handled by Kuipers and Clattenburg in the 2010s. The most outstanding performance I've ever seen in a European final was Joel Quiniou's in the second leg of the 1991 UEFA Cup final between Roma and Inter Milan.
Thank you, Mikael, I understand. I apreciate a lot your comments.
DeleteI agree that Kuipers and Clattenburg were excellent in their finals. I didn't see Quiniou's match in the UEFA Cup final. I will try to find it. IMO Joel Quiniou was a superb referee. I remember him in the 1994 World Cup.
Javier Alberola Rojas will referee the Copa del Rey final.
ReplyDeleteAlfredo Rodríguez and Jorge Bueno will be Ar1 and Ar2 respectively. Adrián Cordero will be the fourth official and José Luis Martínez the fifth. Jorge Figueroa will be the VAR, Daniel Trujillo the AVAR, and Luis Mario Milla the AVAR2.
DeleteAfter the big missed penalty for real madrid?
DeleteOne can only sit and be in disbelief about how Soto Grado missed out on this, I know he refereed the Semi but surely we can all agree he deserved the final. The young Rojas could have been saved for the future, why so early? Why after such a big mistake a few days before the announcement?
DeleteThe CTA and RFEF cert atdo themselves no favors…. And this is not the first time they “reward” someone with the final in this manner… I also wonder what they hope to achieve, especially in this climate in Spain…
DeleteBtw with the same VAR too! This time will be AVAR!
DeleteIt seems some refs are allowed everything while others are punished for every mistake. It stinks.
DeleteWell,all of us spoke about Arbeloa as a frontrunner(excellent season), for this. Infos said that Soto Grado will remain for one more season,so we can expect him next year!
DeletePretty sure I remember reading somewhere that they only choose current FIFA listed referees for the final (Soto grado left last year). That doesn't apply to assistants though as both this year and last year the AR2 hasn't been on the FIFA list.
DeleteCould Mariani be a candidate for a PSG-Arsenal final?
ReplyDeleteIf he gets it, I might as well go start my career as a referee
DeleteIndeed that would be a bit ridiculous.
DeleteDanny Makkelie has been appointed by the KNVB as the referee for the Eurojackpot KNVB Cup final between AZ and NEC. It will be his fourth national cup final, having previously officiated the finals in 2017, 2022 and 2025.
ReplyDeleteThe match marks the 107th edition of the competition and will be played at Stadion Feijenoord in Rotterdam.
He will be assisted by Hessel Steegstra and Jan de Vries, while Rob Dieperink and Robin Hensgens will serve as VAR and AVAR.
Source: https://www.eurojackpotknvbbeker.nl/nieuws/eurojackpot-knvb-beker/danny-makkelie-leidt-finale-eurojackpot-knvb-beker-tussen-az-en-nec
Makkelie in charge of the Dutch cup final for two years in a row is quite remarkable. Lindhout or Gözübüyük would have been more logical appointments, or 'coming man' Van der Eijk perhaps. This Makkelie appointment fits very well in a (somewhat hidden) path towards the UCL final.
DeletePL gives Barrott a PL appointment on Sunday less than 48 hours after his Youth League semi. As expected Taylor gets City/Arsenal. Although like on the weekend just gone he has a different AR2 so Nunn must be injured.
ReplyDeleteOne must admire England because they can send a referee from Manchester to officiate such a game between City and Arsenal with the current league table situation. A culture that will never reach Italy.
DeleteBig for Taylor.. expected to see Oliver but Taylor also had a good sesson
DeleteOliver did Arsenal on Saturday so he wasn’t going to do them next weekend as well.
Delete