Maurizio Mariani in charge of 2025-26 UEFA Conference League final: Crystal Palace - Rayo Vallecano in Leipzig, Germany.
27 May 2026, 21:00 CET - Red Bull Arena, Leipzig (GER)
CRYSTAL PALACE FC (ENG) - RAYO VALLECANO DE MADRID (ESP)
Referee: Maurizio Mariani ITA
Assistant Referee 1: Daniele Bindoni ITA
Assistant Referee 2: Alberto Tegoni ITA
Fourth Official: Glenn Nyberg SWE
Reserve Assistant Referee: Mahbod Beigi SWE
CRYSTAL PALACE FC (ENG) - RAYO VALLECANO DE MADRID (ESP)
Referee: Maurizio Mariani ITA
Assistant Referee 1: Daniele Bindoni ITA
Assistant Referee 2: Alberto Tegoni ITA
Fourth Official: Glenn Nyberg SWE
Reserve Assistant Referee: Mahbod Beigi SWE
Video Assistant Referee: Marco Di Bello ITA
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Daniele Chiffi ITA
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Daniele Chiffi ITA
Video Assistant Referee Support: Ivan Bebek CRO
UEFA Referee Observer: Björn Kuipers NED
UEFA Referee Observer: Björn Kuipers NED
Good job by Mariani and Di Bello. A final between two extremely popular teams.
ReplyDeleteMariani needs to improve his positioning in these first few minutes of the game. He's whistling too much in the so-called "war zones" for possession of the ball, and this can disrupt the players and the ball can hit the referee. This has happened twice already.
ReplyDeleteNyberg i feel he is a referee without development it is the second time that he acts as a fourth oficial while others making noticeable development
ReplyDeleteHowever, he seems to be highly regarded by FIFA: In 2025 alone, he was used in the Arab Cup (including the final), the Club World Cup, and the Intercontinental Cup, in 2024 at the Olympic Games, and in 2023 at the U20 World Cup (including the final).
DeleteMariani put his hand in the Rayo player's face and didn't call the foul. The Italian referee was inattentive during the play.
ReplyDeleteQuite interesting SPA vs DOGSO scenario in 20'. Correct for VAR to stay silent but IMO it's like 65-35 DOGSO/RC.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteWrong call—for me, that's 100% a yellow card.
Deletefor me YC is fine because the defender slightly deflects the ball before committing the foul, so the attacker did not have a straightforward path towards the goal. Btw, a RC wouldn’t have been overturned by VAR
DeleteThe other defender is close, and given the angle of the pass, it perhaps is not obvious that the attacker would have gotten to the ball first. It is a very close decision and arguments can be made in either direction; thus, Di Bello must ratify the on-field decision.
DeleteI don't foresee a comfortable night for Mariani like it was for Letexier last week. Both teams are very combative and close in fouls.
ReplyDeletePoor body language and interacting with players. Too agressive
ReplyDeleteI fully agree. He was as nervous as the players, and close-ups didn't serve him well, as they showed him as an agree man in a shouting competition with some of the players. Not the sort of a referee who is able to calm players down.
DeleteSupportable if not fully correct YC to CRY26, reckless kick.
ReplyDeleteWhen the game was stopped for medical attention to a Spanish fan, Mariani was seen arguing with the Ryao goalkeeper. This kind of behavior was unnecessary. An irregular first action by the Italian
ReplyDeleteThe goalkeeper was causing problems with the referee and some opponents. Mariani was friendly at first and then angrier when the goalkeeper wouldn’t listen.
DeleteAnyway, I hope Mariani cools down at halftime. Because the game started to get irritating when he didn't call the foul on the Palace player regarding the Rayo player's hand to the face. That's when the discomfort was felt, which subsided during the first 45 minutes.
DeleteThis is gonna be the most difficult match of the three finals this year
ReplyDeleteWhy is Mariani so aggressive
ReplyDeleteTotally not necessary over reacting. Very poor image.
ReplyDeleteVery good first half by Mariani, I don't agree with the comments here at all - he read the nature of the match well (nervous players for whom this is a WC final) and acted strictly both in manner and in disciplinary matters.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteFully agree with Mikael, with respect, some debatable opinions above. Perfect approach to the game, including being angry with players, in such a game to give a signal, a referee must be aware of what he is officiating.
DeleteAnd it's always refreshing to see cards without the classic "final style", that in my opinion should be forgotten as soon as possible by all referees.
About the possible RC for DOGSO, for me YC is excellent decision, maybe RC acceptable but rather a mistake for me, al is about the other defender, you can't say that it was an obvious goal scoring opportunity.
Honestly today so far the best Mariani i saw in recent times.
Wishing a similar second half.
When players are nervos the ref needs to be calm
Delete+1 to all
DeleteNot angry.
Delete@ Mikael W: I wouldn't say he acted strictly in manner, my feeling is he acted unfriendly (to players of both teams). As if he were surrounded by 22 enemies.
DeleteNot a very souvereign style imho.
Clear YC missed
ReplyDeleteAccording to his disciplinary line so far, yes, that should have been a YC.
DeleteIf Mariani would be like this in Serie A...
ReplyDeleteStrong, authoritative performance from Mariani in my opinion. No nonsense refereeing. One does think and ask, had he adopted this approach in previous UEFA games just might he have been the man in the middle on Saturday instead?
ReplyDeleteNever seen such Mariani, for this reason he didn't deserved more than this final, before today, that's exactly what I think and I wrote below.
DeleteA match that was by far more difficult from a refereeing point of view than the Europa League final, we can say close to "very challenging" but something is still missing for that level (no crucial incidents).
ReplyDeleteMaurizio Mariani had the perfect approach, keeping control of the game and preventing it from degenerating. This was potentially a match full of fouls and very little football because of the presence of the Spanish club (known for their style), even though on the other side there was an English rival (so, under different circumstances, it could even have been worse).
The Italian referee prepared and managed the game in that way, and in my opinion he did well.
Accepting a few moments in which referees show strong character must be allowed; we can't always think of referees as all identical puppets acting in exactly the same way. It's true that UEFA says "calm and composed", but for me Mariani today didn't cross the limit and his presence was strong for this reason.
Moreover, still my opinion of course, the Mariani we saw tonight honestly cleared up some doubts I had about some aspects, at least in this game. Indeed, this season and in recent times he officiated several serie A games in a rather poor and weak way.
This final too goes into the archives without controversy and the committee can consider themselves satisfied, but it's important to say, before all the rest, that Mariani should remain at this level in the future.
Good, steady performance with good disciplinary decisions throughout. Congratulations Mr. Mariani on a final well-done!
ReplyDeleteStrong solid performance by Mariani, always in full control of the game. Well done Maurizio, bravo! Both performances in EL and COL finals were excellent after a troubling season. Commitee did the right choices despite many critics here.
ReplyDeleteAgree. Too many bad things happened in the UEFA finals in '22 and '23 (not always to do with the refereeing!) at Saint-Denis, Prague and Budapest; it is good that the finals in the last three seasons have presented a positive and orderly image of European football/refereeing, and I hope this will continue on Saturday! Mariani was helped by the status of the game (he couldn't have solved PSG-Arsenal in the same way) but this was, clearly, a very good performance and one which the Italian should be proud of. We should remember that refereeing is an art -- not a science -- and if refereeing managers are doing their jobs well, the discretionary choices of top refs (such as Mariani's to deal with the (Rayo) players in a severe manner) should generally make sense and benefit the game as a whole.
DeleteA very yood perfromance delivered by Maurizio Mariani. Congrats to all officiating team!
ReplyDeleteSorry but Mariani is not my cup of tea.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I saw a very strong performance by Mariani on a technical level and I think his style was accepted by the players and suited the final well. Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteThis just shows that you can have great performance, be unnoticable in a match even without being lenient.
ReplyDelete9 cards,all of them correct and Mariani is no focal point.
Hopefully more refs and UEFA in general will have this no bs approach.
Don't exaggerate. Saying that Mariani's performance was brilliant seems a bit over the top. The first half wasn't 100% perfect, but the second was much better. A good performance, but not brilliant.
ReplyDeleteFlawless, perfect performance. In my opinion a candidate for another final in July 👀👀
ReplyDeleteSorry this is a little bit too much
DeleteYep, Mariani had good performance tonight job well done him and his team but to speculates about the July final i think quarter finals is high as he can ever imagine
ReplyDeleteOT
ReplyDeleteCyprus Cup Final
29 May
19:00 Apollon Limassol - Pafos F.C.
Στάδιο: GSP
Referee: Marco Guida
Assistant 1: Stefano Alassio
Assistant 2: Giuseppe Perrotti
4th Official: Christoforou Marios
VAR: Valerio Marini
AVAR: Tehrani Andreas