PLAY THE ADVANTAGE

The referees for the first two quarterfinal second legs are Pedro Proenca of Portgual and Damir Skomina of Slovenia.

Proenca will be at Stamford Bridge for Chelsea v. PSG, and Skomina will officiate Real Madrid v. Dortmund.

Proenca is about as safe a bet as you can get. Not only is he a World Cup referee, but he’s just so good at managing games that it gets to the point you barely know he is there. His last Champions League match was completely unmemorable, which is exactly what you want from a referee.

Damir Skomina, on the other hand, is a little of a surprise for me. He’s a good referee, don’t get me wrong. And he’s a bit of eye candy to boot (above). But he’s been a little hit or miss this past season, and guess I expected a more seasoned referee. That said, aggregate score is heavily in Madrid’s favor, so it may be seen as a ‘safe’ game to give to someone less experienced.