2026/27 UEFA Champions League, League Phase, Matchday 1. Third set of referee appointments, Thursday 10 September 2026.
10 September 2026
18:45 CET - Eindhoven (Philips Stadion)
PSV (NED) - SHAKHTAR DONETSK (UKR)
Referee: Halil Umut Meler TUR Assistant Referee 1: Ibrahim Çaglar Uyarcan TUR
Assistant Referee 2: Abdullah Özkara TUR
Fourth Official: Cihan Aydın TUR
Video Assistant Referee: Christian Dingert GER
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Fedayi San SUI
UEFA Referee Observer: Lucílio Cardoso Cortez Batista POR
UEFA Delegate: Angelo Chetcuti MLT
18:45 CET - Istanbul (Şükrü Saracoğlu Spor Kompleksi)
FENERBAHÇE (TUR) - AS ROMA (ITA)
Referee: Jesús Gil Manzano ESPAssistant Referee 1: Diego Barbero Sevilla ESP
Assistant Referee 2: Guadalupe Porras Ayuso ESP
Fourth Official: Juan Martínez Munuera ESP
Video Assistant Referee: César Soto Grado ESP
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Valentín Pizarro Gómez ESP
UEFA Referee Observer: Jon Skjervold NOR
21:00 CET - Munich (Allianz Arena)
FC BAYERN MÜNCHEN (GER) - FK BODØ/GLIMT (NOR)
Referee: Rade Obrenovič SVNAssistant Referee 1: Jure Praprotnik SVN
Assistant Referee 2: Grega Kordež SVN
Fourth Official: David Šmajc SVN
Video Assistant Referee:
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Carlos Del Cerro Grande ESP
UEFA Referee Observer: René H.J. Temmink NED
21:00 CET - Manchester (Old Trafford)
MANCHESTER UNITED FC (ENG) - SABAH FK (AZE)
Referee: Willy Delajod FRAAssistant Referee 1: Erwan Finjean FRA
Assistant Referee 2: Valentin Evrard FRA
Fourth Official: Mathieu Vernice FRA
Video Assistant Referee: Jérôme Brisard FRA
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Momčilo Marković SRB
UEFA Referee Observer: Stefan Johannesson SWE
21:00 CET - Prague (Eden Arena)
SK SLAVIA PRAHA (CZE) - RC LENS (FRA)
Referee: Vassilis Fotias GREAssistant Referee 1: Andreas Meintanas GRE
Assistant Referee 2: Michail Papadakis GRE
Fourth Official: Alexandros Tsakalidis GRE
Video Assistant Referee: Tomasz Kwiatkowski POL
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Pawel Malec POL
UEFA Referee Observer: Carlos Velasco Carballo ESP
UEFA Delegate: Kuanysh Kanapyanov KAZ
21:00 CET - Como (Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia)
COMO 1907 (ITA) - RB LEIPZIG (GER)
Referee: Serdar Gözübüyük NEDAssistant Referee 1: Patrick Inia NED
Assistant Referee 2: Rogier Honig NED
Fourth Official: Jeroen Manschot NED
Video Assistant Referee: Dennis Higler NED
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Pol van Boekel NED
UEFA Referee Observer: Darko Čeferin SVN
UEFA Delegate: lexander Miescher SUI
Why aren't the referees for the other matches listed?
ReplyDeleteIt hasn't been announced yet
DeleteWhere is Meler?
Deletefenerbahce roma :manzano
ReplyDeletebayern bodo: obrenovic
manchester utd sabah : delajod
Slavia praha lens: fotias
PSV - Shaktar
DeleteHalil umut meler
the hardest games of the day seems to be given to Gozubuyuk and Manzano.
ReplyDeleteOnly Manzano faces a tough fixture on paper, no matter how he officiates.
DeleteOn the other hand, Como vs. RB Leipzig looks manageable on paper, but the referee needs to live up to the standard of the game.
Interesting appointments.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting to see Delajod here. big test for the frenchman
ReplyDeleteMeler currently is removed on UEFA pages.
ReplyDeleteThe names of Halil Umut Meler's assistants are not removed
DeleteSome observations on MD1 appointments
ReplyDeleteEarly season focus on youth seems fair enough.
Still, the talent management and choice of key observers raises questions. Jablonski under Rocchi’s eye in what looks like a very one-sided match on paper doesn’t feel like the most relevant test. Wouldn’t it make more sense to have Rocchi watch the German in a more balanced CL fixture? These lopsided games mainly serve to pad the CV and keep the referee out of the wind rather than genuinely challenge him.
Massa getting what is probably the biggest game of the set (Liverpool–Atlético) also looks odd. You’d expect some kind of run-up for a match of that magnitude - e.g. someone who shone in the pre-season or at the end of last season (Schärer springs to mind). Instead Rosetti seems happy to hand the top fixture to an Italian without a clear recent platform.
Oliver in a high-stakes game this early feels premature - they’ll almost certainly need him later in the group stage.
Nice to see Gil Manzano in a decent fixture, though the pattern of Spanish refs constantly getting Turkey remains a bit samey. Refs like Nyberg and Eskås should also get exposure to that atmosphere.
Obrenovič is being pushed hard after Vincic’s retirement, even though last season wasn’t particularly strong for him. Expect to see the Slovene in bigger games simply to build a certain profile - which feels a bit dubious when the main driver is a compatriot’s exit rather than his own recent form.
Gözübüyük seems pushed and continues his CL path after the play-off. I wonder on what basis he gets favoured ahead of Makkelie. Perhaps age. I think internationally the latter comes from a better season last year (with a semi-final CL and World Cup without major criticism). With Fotias making his debut, Van der Eijk’s first appearance can’t be far off. I watched Ajax–PSV and wasn’t particularly impressed. Leaving aside the missed RC, the opening YC felt driven more by the crowd’s reaction than by an assessment or criterium.
Very good comment
DeleteSpanish referees are constantly assigned to matches played by Turkish teams at home. As you said, names like Nyberg, Glenn, and Letexier should experience this atmosphere too
Delete“Espen”
Delete@unknow +Letexier has never been appointed to a match where a Turkish team plays at home.
DeleteGood start of the season from Oliver, Manzano and Gozubuyuk with deserved appointments in first round
Delete@HB2300 but he officiated a turkey game in the wc qualification
DeleteAs long as UEFA doesn't show Meler name on the official assignment, I can't write him as referee for the game.
ReplyDeleteDebuts for Fotias with Velasco and Delajod in a game that one could have expected to be used in this way.
It was a really terrible turkish derby performance for him. one of the worst matches of his career. I hope his name has been erased for this reason, but the assistant referees' names are still there. It's probably a mistake in the system; they'll add his name later.
DeleteThe Fenerbahçe president threatened Halil Umut Meler after the match.
DeletePerhaps it stems from the psychological breakdown he experienced after the derby... I feel sorry for him.
I disagree that he had a terrible performance. He got most of the major calls right. The 2 penalty decisions not given feners way were supportable imo. Only major decision wrong was Vlahovic foul on Kante.
DeleteAside the major mistakes, out of the 50 decisions he made on the pitch, 30-35 were wrong—the fouls he called, the fouls he missed, the yellow cards he didn't show, and the red cards. His overall performance was poor.
DeleteIts very difficult to ref in the turkish league. Constant diving, mobbing, political pressure and expectation that every contact should be a foul has lead to a complete distrust in the tff referees. Whereas I think the clubs and fans must also change their mindset. Let us not forget one of the greatest uefa refs in history cuneyt cakir was heavily disliked in turkey. One could say his performances domestically vs internationally were very different. I think its not crazy to say uefa should not take domestic performances too seriously from this country.
DeleteComo - Leipzig
ReplyDeleteUEFA Referee Observer: Darko Čeferin (SVN)
UEFA Delegate: Alexander Miescher (SUI)
You should swap these names.
Yes, sorry.
DeleteScottish League Cup Quarter Final
ReplyDeleteRangers FC V Celtic F.C.
Referee Nick Walsh
Ar1: Francis Connor
Ar2: Daniel McFarlane
4th Official: Kevin Clancy
Var: Andrew Dallas
Avar: Steven McLean
Good appointment, my guess is Beaton for the league fixture the following week.
DeleteFormer Turkish fifa Referee : Deniz Ates Bitnel.
ReplyDeleteThere is a very big problem regarding Halil Umut Meler — it will come out soon.
UEFA announced the referees who will officiate matches in the UEFA Champions League.
The referees for our representatives Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe’s matches have also been determined.
In UEFA’s elite category, our referee Halil Umut Meler had been assigned to the PSV Eindhoven – Shakhtar Donetsk match.
However, on UEFA’s official website, Halil Umut Meler’s name is not listed — only the assistants appear.
Regarding the investigation that was started by the federation over the Riva scandal…
If they said “don’t give him matches,” there might have been a last-minute change.
Apart from that, I don’t think there will be any change related to his performance in the Beşiktaş–Fenerbahçe match.
If the Turkish Football Federation prevented Halil Umut Meler from taking this match, then Halil Umut Meler may quit refereeing.
Turkish federation again with its controversies ..
DeleteMeler name has been added right now.
ReplyDeleteChefren
ReplyDeleteMeler's name is listed on UEFA's website 👍🏻
Will John Brooks, Sander van der Eijk, Martin Martosa, Andrea Colombo, or Juxhin Xhaja make their UEFA Champions League debut?
ReplyDeleteWhy don't Turkish derbies hire foreign referees, as was done with Slavko Vinčić?
I hope those who say Meler had a bad derby performance are joking. The Turkish league may be the worst in Europe in terms of footballing quality. Teams don’t want to play football; they just want to win.
ReplyDeleteActually, the hardest game of the day is Meler's because Shakhtar’s manager is Turkish, Arda Turan.
At the end of his career, Arda Turan grabbed a referee by the throat and told another referee, “You should be killed.” Despite this incident, Arda Turan remains very popular with the Turkish media, so it will be a very difficult match. GOOD LUCK FOR NEXT CUNEYT CAKIR
I think it is mediocre match and good start for his season, if you consider the last one. If you think about nationalities of coaches and players, then you won't find any referee for any of the matches. We must overcome these thoughts and trust the integrity of a person, let a referee. He is not a newbie in the Elite, and is able to cope with pressure.
DeleteNevertheless, he might have a good match or bad one like every other referee.
But I am sure there will be Turkish people watching his match with magnifying glass to find a mistake and post it to social media to destroy his credibility rather than discuss the technical aspect of the decision. It is becoming disgusting and Turkey may be 1-2 seasons behind to become a new Greece in European football community.
All in all, I wish good luck to all referees in the upcoming European season. May the referee's luck be with them always :)
Of course, I agree with you, and I think Halil Umut Meler is the best Turkish referee after Cüneyt Çakır.
DeleteAbsolutely not. He is far behind Ahmet Çakar and Firat Aydinus.
DeleteUEFA Europa League MD1 Observers
ReplyDeleteOmónia Nicosia vs. Celta Vigo (Rune Pedersen NOR)
Ararat-Armenia vs. Sparta Praha (Paolo Valeri ITA)
Bayer Leverkusen vs. Celje (Markus Nobs SUI)
Milan vs. Benfica (Ante Vučemilović CRO)
Olymbiakós vs. Jagiellonia Białystok (Michael Johansen DEN)
Anderlecht vs. Olympique Lyonnais (Hannes Kaasik EST)
Sturm Graz vs. Stade Rennais (Karen Nalbandyan ARM)
Sunderland vs. AZ Alkmaar (Mattias Gestranius FIN)
H. Be'er Sheva vs. Dinamo Zagreb (Alain Sars FRA)
OFI vs. Hoffenheim (Vladimir Šajn SVN)
Levski Sofia vs. Salzburg (Peter Sippel GER)
Juventus vs. NEC Nijmegen (Paweł Gil POL)
Real Sociedad vs. Bournemouth (Barış Şimşek TUR)
Viktoria Plzeň vs. Union Saint-Gilloise (Stephen Tanner ENG)
Celtic vs. Ferencváros (Stéphane Lannoy FRA)
Crystal Palace vs. Lech Poznań (Marco Fritz GER)
Beşiktaş vs. Marseille (?)
Lillestrøm vs. Torreense (Aleksandar Stavrev MKD)
Stieler will retire on international level at the end of this year, also the assistant referees Christian Gittelmann and Lasse Koslowski
ReplyDeleteManzona missed yc
ReplyDeleteanother missed yc
ReplyDeleteThe Spanish referee calls very simple and soft fouls, Fenerbahce players are always on the ground.
ReplyDeleteThis is a refereeing blog. Please let us limit our comments to refereeing decisions. Let's not sabotage the blog.
DeleteJoão Pinheiro and Maurizio Mariani in UAE today. The Portuguese accompanied by Luciano Maia and Pedro Ribeiro (VAR was István Vad) handled Al-Jazira vs. An-Nassr while the full Italian crew (AR Daniele Bindoni, Alberto Tegoni, 4OF Matteo Marchetti, VAR Aleandro Di Paolo, Valerio Marini) for Al-Ain vs. Al-Wasl.
ReplyDeletePossible foul before 0-1 by Shakhtar.
ReplyDeleteVAR check then goal was confirmed.
Video:
https://streamin.link/v/1b58c9f0
Pure application of VAR protocol: no clear and obvious mistake because ball was played before and then contact with opponent.
Could have been whistled as reckless, though, on a purely theoretical level.
I think right deccision
DeleteClear foul. The studs catch the PSV player's leg. It is a careless foul that should have been penalized, with the offender punished by a yellow card.
DeleteLet's talk a bit about referee intelligence.
DeleteAt 45+1', Meler missed a midfield foul—or rather, chose not to call it, which, fair enough, could go either way—but that should have been the end of the first half.
If he had just called the foul, he would have saved the refereeing crew from all that massive pressure in the second half.
I don't know!
Roma players exaggerating every contact, especially Dybala.
ReplyDeleteA penalty appeal was rejected by Gil Manzano, then he whistled another one, still soft, but it was outside and VAR corrected into free kick (in this case Dybala added to the exaggeration of the contact, trying to fall inside the box to be sure about the call). Then a third situation to follow, and I think again outside the box, Gil Manzano played on, another soft contact trying to get a call. But in this case the main argument for VAR to stay silent was that foul was outside.
How was his overall performance?
DeleteThey are adapting to Manzano’s style, whistling every slight contact since the beginning. Both teams are exaggerating, Muriqi has been more on the ground than standing
ReplyDeleteManzano was terrible.. how was Meler ?
ReplyDeleteThat Meler seems to like handing out yellow cards a bit too freely, haha. There were 9 in total in Eindhoven, whereas the average number of cards in Champions League matches is usually 3 to 5, sometimes reaching 6.
DeleteI would not say terrible. That's really too harsh. In the end most key situations he got right. But his very unique body language is sort of unreadable, his foul detection has no consistency at all, so he is always struggling to stay in control. Personally I like him, but today's performance was sub par.
DeleteI am not particularly fond of officiating that is overly interventionist. That is not to say Meler is wrong to adopt this approach to refereeing.
DeleteHowever, I do advocate for an interventionist style regarding cards—provided the timing is right and the flow and intensity of the match are not compromised.
Given the nature of the competition, there were cards Meler could have handled differently; UEFA certainly does not want the intensity of early-stage matches stifled by excessive card-related interventions, as this results in a slow, disjointed game.
Manzanos style is if in doubt, whistle a foul. Teams see this and will throw themselves to the floor at every chance. Not a good watch
ReplyDeleteRC against Slavia (49') after OFR: Certainly not a wrong decision to assess this as DOGSO, however I am not sure, whether it really was a clear and obvious situation, because the attacker was not moving directly towards the goal.
ReplyDeleteThe on-field decision to not even award the free kick was a big miss at least.
RC the only option in Bayern (87'). Not 100% clear how much of a foul it was on the replays shown, but once given, clear Dogso
ReplyDeleteBut very bad management and presentation. He seemed to have no idea who committed the foul and waited for someone (probably VAR) to tell him while standing there with the RC already out. In general, Obrenovic didn’t convince me at all (even though generally I think he isn’t as bad as a lot of comments on this blog usually suggest). He had quite some problems with connecting with players and also very central positioning, indeed to me he made the impression he doesn’t even want to move and get the best angles.
DeleteA solid evening in Como from Gozubuyuk.
ReplyDeleteHe remained composed throughout the game and handled the key moments with confidence and without any problems. Correct 5 yellow cards.
Overall a convincing and good performance from the officiating team. Rosetti spotted in the stands; he can be happy.
What do you think about situation in Slavia Lens when entering field of play after 1 minute enabled GSO to Lens and resulted in RC for Slavia coach. Definitely bad optics for Fotias but not sure if he made a mistake.
ReplyDeleteMeler and Manzano very similar style refs. Whistle every contact and give many soft yc's. Im sorry but they are both well below elite level imo.
ReplyDeleteIt is worth noting that both come from leagues known for interventionist officiating regarding cards (the Spanish and Turkish leagues).
DeleteExcessive interventionism in domestic leagues can lead referees to become set in their ways; consequently, when they officiate UEFA matches, they often carry over these ingrained habits. The goal is not to eliminate this factor entirely, but rather to avoid being locked into a single method of issuing cards. After all, the spectacle of the game must be preserved.
Manzano insufficiente, troppi fischi su falli leggeri, incerto sul disciplinare, i giocatori lo hanno capito e si sono adeguati
DeleteObrenović red card for DOGSO:
ReplyDeletehttps://streamin.link/v/714d8eac
Not easy to keep the focus on the player who committed the foul because there were three defenders very close to the action.
The Slovenian referee needed time.
He spotted immediately the foul, thougjh.
I wouldn't blame him that much, I'm not inclined to think that he had some VAR advices, rather AR1 maybe helped him in identifying the number of the player (I also think the Slovenian wanted to give red card and this was his original idea, no doubts for him whether SPA or DOGSO).
Fotias red card for DOGSO, after OFR:
ReplyDeletehttps://streamin.link/v/b9e3de1d
I fully agree with Philipp's analysis above.
The direction and the movement of the ball at moment of the foul could be assessed as SPA. However, for sure red card if given by referee a fully supportable decision, but in my view this was not VAR stuff.
Then, one should reflect on the fact that the Greek referee didn't whistle foul at all, and maybe this lowered the bar for VAR intervention.
We can't know, but in reality for me, given how Rosetti now wants to approach, the intervention should be rather marked as excessive.
Also, once again, referee looked to be not that convinced during OFR, rather long time. And we know that's against the VAR principles.
In the end it's very hard to find consistency mostly because referees are used to keep their point of view instead of thinking in an extremely neutral way about an incident.
The other situiation from Fotias game mentioned above:
ReplyDeletehttps://streamin.link/v/7369ee72
Absolutely unfair to allow a player to enter in this circumstance... a goal would have been more than controversial.
I think Rosetti will work on such aspects and he will give clear guidelines.
Interesting situation from Greek SL. Penalty or play on? Referee Matsoukas candidate for new FIFA referee VAR Papadopoulos former FIFA referee. https://youtu.be/Q5QDhc0WbaY?is=1dsuraaBjvYinRgL
DeleteBall changes direction from goalkeeper’s hand. Arm is close to the body, clearly attempts to kick the ball. Never deliberate, never unnaturally bigger. Never handball.
DeleteWell,about debutants name, Minakovic was the best in MD1, at least for me.
ReplyDeleteWe figured out you're from Serbia or some relative of the referee
DeleteEL predictions
ReplyDeleteOmónia Nicosia vs. Celta Vigo: Lindhout (NED)
Ararat-Armenia vs. Sparta Praha: Saggi (NOR)
Bayer Leverkusen vs. Celje: Kavanagh (ENG)
Milan vs. Benfica: Kruzliak (SVK)
Olymbiakós vs. Jagiellonia Białystok: Osmers (GER)
Anderlecht vs. Olympique Lyonnais: Martinez (ESP)
Sturm Graz vs. Stade Rennais: Walsh (SCO)
Sunderland vs. AZ Alkmaar: Al Hakim (SWE)
H. Be'er Sheva vs. Dinamo Zagreb: Papapetrou (GRE)
OFI vs. Hoffenheim: Frid (ISR)
Levski Sofia vs. Salzburg: Kikacheishvili (GEO)
Juventus vs. NEC Nijmegen: Stegemann (GER)
Real Sociedad vs. Bournemouth: Petrescu (ROU)
Viktoria Plzeň vs. Union Saint-Gilloise: Lukjancukas (LTU)
Celtic vs. Ferencváros: Pajac (CRO)
Crystal Palace vs. Lech Poznań: Gishamer (AUT)
Beşiktaş vs. Marseille: Kruashvili (GEO)
Lillestrøm vs. Torreense: Weinberger (AUT)