2026/27 UEFA Champions League. Please find below the referee appointments for the second set of MD3 games, to be played on Wednesday 21 October 2026.
Wednesday 21 October 2026
18:45 CET - Villeneuve d'Ascq (Stade Pierre Mauroy)
LOSC LILLE (FRA) - GALATASARAY (TUR)
Referee: Rade Obrenovič SVN
Assistant Referee 1: Jure Praprotnik SVN
Assistant Referee 2: Matej Žunič SVN
Fourth Official: Martin Matoša SVN
Video Assistant Referee:Matej Jug SVN
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Dennis Johan Higler NED
UEFA Referee Observer: Terje Hauge NOR
Fourth Official: Martin Matoša SVN
Video Assistant Referee:Matej Jug SVN
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Dennis Johan Higler NED
UEFA Referee Observer: Terje Hauge NOR
UEFA Delegate: Danilo Filacchione ITA
18:45 CET - Como (Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia)
COMO 1907 (ITA) - MANCHESTER UNITED FC (ENG)
Referee: Sven Jablonski GER
Assistant Referee 1: Eduard Beitinger GER
Assistant Referee 2: Robert Kempter GER
Fourth Official: Tobias Reichel GER
Video Assistant Referee: Christian Dingert GER
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Sören Storks GER
UEFA Referee Observer: Stéphane Lannoy FRA
UEFA Delegate: Carlos Filipe de Sá Lucas POR
21:00 CET - Munich (Allianz Arena)
FC BAYERN MÜNCHEN (GER) - ARSENAL FC (ENG)
Referee: Davide Massa ITA
Assistant Referee 1: Filippo Meli ITA
Assistant Referee 2: Alessio Berti ITA
Fourth Official: Fabio Maresca ITA
Video Assistant Referee: Carlos Del Cerro Grande ESP
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Marco Di Bello ITA
UEFA Referee Observer: Karen Nalbandyan ARM
UEFA Delegate: João Morais POR
21:00 CET - Madrid (Estadio Santiago Bernabéu)
REAL MADRID CF (ESP) - RB LEIPZIG (GER)
Referee: Istvan Kovacs ROU
Assistant Referee 1: Mihai Marica ROU
Assistant Referee 2: Ferencz Tunyogi ROU
Fourth Official: Szabolcs Kovacs ROU
Video Assistant Referee: Tomasz Kwiatkowski POL
Assistant Referee 1: Mihai Marica ROU
Assistant Referee 2: Ferencz Tunyogi ROU
Fourth Official: Szabolcs Kovacs ROU
Video Assistant Referee: Tomasz Kwiatkowski POL
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Bram Van Driessche BEL
UEFA Referee Observer: Mattias Gestranius FINUEFA Delegate: Per Svärd SWE
21:00 CET - Milan (Stadio Giuseppe Meazza)
FC INTERNAZIONALE (ITA) - SHAKHTAR DONETSK (UKR)
Referee: Harm Osmers GER
Assistant Referee 1: Christian Gittelmann GER
Assistant Referee 2:Christian Dietz GER
Fourth Official: Florian Exner GER
Video Assistant Referee: Robert Schröder GER
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Benjamin Brand GER
UEFA Referee Observer: Emil Bozinovski MKD
UEFA Delegate: Michal Mertinyák SVK
21:00 CET - Lisbon (Estádio José Alvalade)
SPORTING CP (POR) - LASK LINZ (AUT)
Referee: Nicholas Walsh SCO
Assistant Referee 1: Francis Connor SCOAssistant Referee 2: Daniel McFarlane SCO
Fourth Official: Donald Robertson SCO
Video Assistant Referee: Stuart Attwell ENG
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Piotr Lasyk POL
UEFA Referee Observer: Vladimir Šajn SVN
UEFA Delegate: Pat Duffy IRL
21:00 CET - Birmingham (Villa Park)
ASTON VILLA FC (ENG) - VIKING FK (NOR)
Referee: Sebastian Gishamer AUT
Assistant Referee 1: Roland Riedel AUT
Assistant Referee 2: Santino Schreiner AUTFourth Official: Walter Altmann AUT
Video Assistant Referee: Alan Kijas AUT
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Ivan Bebek CRO
UEFA Referee Observer: Fredy Fautrel FRA
UEFA Delegate: Lennart Vestervall SWE21:00 CET - Bruges (Jan Breydelstadion)
CLUB BRUGGE KV (BEL) - RC LENS (FRA)
Referee: Luis Godinho POR
Assistant Referee 1: Pedro Martins POR
Assistant Referee 2: Gonçalo Nuno Soares Vaz Freire POR
Fourth Official: Miguel Nogueira POR
Video Assistant Referee: André Narciso POR
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Tiago Bruno Lopes Martins POR
UEFA Referee Observer: Tomasz Mikulski POL
Assistant Referee 2: Gonçalo Nuno Soares Vaz Freire POR
Fourth Official: Miguel Nogueira POR
Video Assistant Referee: André Narciso POR
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Tiago Bruno Lopes Martins POR
UEFA Referee Observer: Tomasz Mikulski POL
UEFA Delegate: Styrbjörn Oskarsson FIN
21:00 CET - Seville (La Cartuja de Sevilla)
REAL BETIS BALOMPIÉ (ESP) - FEYENOORD ROTTERDAM (NED)
Referee: Simone Sozza ITA
Assistant Referee 1: Giovanni Baccini ITA
Assistant Referee 2: Davide Imperiale ITA
Fourth Official: Andrea Colombo ITA
Video Assistant Referee: Daniele Chiffi ITA
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Fedayi San SUI
UEFA Referee Observer: László Vagner HUN
UEFA Delegate: Tarik Shamel ENG
lille vs. gala Rade Obrenovič
ReplyDeleteMassa at Munich
ReplyDeleteKovacs at Madrid
Osmers with second CL appointment
ReplyDeleteNext game for Jablonski: Como - Man Utd
ReplyDeleteAfter that playoff fiasco, Mariani has still not received a match appointment in Champions league... Jablonski, on the other hand, makes it three in a row
ReplyDeleteElite referees who had no matches until MD 3:
ReplyDelete- Erik Lambrechts (BEL)
- Alejandro Hernández (ESP)
- Orel Grinfeld (ISR)
- Maurizio Mariani (ITA)
- Danny Makkelie (NED)
- João Pinheiro (POR)
- Srđan Jovanović (SRB)
"Pinheiro, Lambrechts, srdan and Orel got assignments in the Europa League. The ones who haven't been assigned to any competition so far—except for the Nations League—are Mariani, Makkelie, and Hernández... Makkelie and Hernández will likely get assigned in the Europa League this week, but I can't say the same for Mariani. My guess is that Webb, the referee observer for the Lyon-Fener match, gave him a low mark.
DeleteSome fairly insignificant observers put this game day. Surprised that some of the more important observers aren’t out given the return of Kovacs
ReplyDeleteSome AR, VAR, AVAR and RO missing
ReplyDeleteNow, I'm almost sure that there's something personal between Rosetti and Makkelie. I do not have in mind a so harsh and unfair treatment for the dutch in the latest 3/4 years, different respect to FIFA assignment I guess it cannot be justified by performance. Jablonski confirmed as new top elite at level of Marciniak, Oliver, Turpin, etc, Important match for Walsh under Sajn's eyes. Sonorous match for Massa who is now more trusted respect to the past, probably due to bad Mariani's moment and the decline of Guida. Happy to see Kovacs back
ReplyDeleteI am not understand untill now why joao pinheiro and other elite referee like makellei and does not get any match in champions league is there some one have any intepretation for that
ReplyDeletePinheiro is out of form. I think Rosetti has a personal issue with Makkelie, he’s the only referee who hasn’t been appointed to any UEFA competitions so far.
Deleteİ think Mariani, won't be assigned to any matches for a long time after that playoff match between Lyon vs Fenerbahce
The issue is not the way you see or read
DeleteBig Match for massa
ReplyDeleteJUSTICE FOR MAKKELIE
ReplyDeleteJUSTICE FOR MAKKELIE
ReplyDeleteMy first comment is on this frequent use of the same referees.
ReplyDeleteThe well-defined patterns of past years during the group stage, when it was different and consisted of six matchdays, have been completely abandoned.
Referees now find themselves officiating one week and then the very next, as if refereeing in domestic competitions has almost become a problem for them.
I think with the total number of referee, including Elite and Category 1, should allow the make all different choices, at least for close weeks, but it's a question of management.
I’m focusing on Mariani regarding his performance. It seems clear to me that regardless of Howard Webb, and we know that observers, even high-profile ones, certainly can have their importance but it's the committee that makes the choices, and they are very, very disappointed with his performance.
Honestly, though, I didn't expect it to this extent, to tell you the truth. He was given a Nations League match, but today made it even clearer that these Nations League games, take Hernández Hernández with the missed penalty in the Champions League play-off, for instance, are viewed in a completely different light.
In fact, they are used for referees who can't be appointed in the Champions League due to poor performances. Anyway, I think we will now see Mariani in Europa League, and then perhaps he will return to the Champions League starting from next matchday.
One should also wonder what happened with Pinheiro and Makkelie, both were at the AFC tournament, so OK, but after that?
Should be expected to see them both in Europa League tomorrow.
Kovacs back in a rather normal game, I think Real Madrid will have an easy win against Leipzig, despite of being a Spanish - German clash for many arguments it's a minor one. Curious to see whether the Romanian has recovered or not.
Committee member for Walsh, but still a normal game.
Šajn will maybe check the Scottish for the next assignment, that, at this point, should surely be a more challenging one.
About Massa, there seems to be a focus on him now.
He can be a contender with Mariani for a final, but well, if we think that at WC Mariani got such important path, then we can't explain how it is possible that at UEFA level he is still there, only Conference League final and some issues for getting more.
Let's be honest: being Italan helps in getting a bit of everything, regardless of the rest, sometimes efforts are not needed, but in my opinion a referee's performance should be always judged with the same criteria.
Now we also understand why Mariani officiated the Nations League match in such a nervous manner.
DeleteCould it be that this is also why Rosetti didn’t like his performance in the NL clash as well?
You see the reason of not to appoint for mariani and hernandez is their performance . Ok what is the reason of pinheiro and makellei
DeleteKovacs gets a very good appointment after another terrible performance on Friday in Romania Superliga.
ReplyDeleteAfter serving 3 rounds of suspension following a disastrous performance in the DINAMO vs STEAUA derby, Kovacs was appointed to Otelul vs Csikszereda, the lowest profile game of the round. Again he made a total mess from that game:
Video:
https://youtu.be/maOU0tvKobA
1st half - missed pen for away team, for a judo tackle (min 4:17 in the video). No VAR intervention
2nd half - ( see min 1:19) pen awarded for the away team, overturned after VAR check. A soft penalty but VAR should have stayed silent IMO, as there is contact. Also wrong YC for simulation for me, which proved to be decisive as the same player received a 2nd YC a few minutes later.
(min 12:08 in the video) - 2nd YC and RC for the away team for elbowing, hoewever Kovacs didn't see the offender was pushed initially by another defender.
So Massa wasn’t good enough for the Euros or the World Cup, but he is good enough for:
ReplyDeleteLiverpool–Atlético
England–Spain
Bayern–Arsenal
Care to explain, Rosetti?
Actually, don’t bother. We all know these appointments would have gone to Mariani if he hadn’t fallen out of favour after a disastrous CL play-off and accidentally showed a RC instead of a YC during the Nations League.
But is that reason enough to give Massa these top games? Absolutely not. I get that it’s hard to maintain the reputation of Italian refereeing, but perhaps it’s time to accept reality: it’s simply a mediocre generation. No amount of big-game appointments will change that.
Vladimir Šajn observing Walsh. Excellent recent appointments for Massa, and Kovacs with a decent appointment aswell.
ReplyDelete