PLAY THE ADVANTAGE

The final legs of the Champions League playoffs will be held this Tuesday and Wednesday, and the roster of referees – combined with the first legs – read like a who’s who of Europe’s best.

On Tuesday, Italy’s number two, Gianluca Rocchi, is in St. Petersburg, and Germany’s Wolfgang Stark – a no-nonsense referee if ever there was one – will take BATE Borisov v. Slovan Bratislava.

Viktor Kassai of Hungary – who just missed the World Cup – is in action, as is Norwegian hottie Svein Oddvar Moen.

William Collum of Scotland rounds out the group.

Zenit St Petersburg – Standard Liège
Referee: Gianluca Rocchi (ITA)
Assistant Referee 1: Elenito Di Liberatore (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Gianluca Cariolato (ITA)

BATE Borisov – Slovan Bratislava
Referee: Wolfgang Stark (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Mike Pickel (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Thorsten Schiffner (GER)

FC Porto – Lille OSC
Referee: Svein Oddvar Moen (NOR)
Assistant Referee 1: Kim Thomas Haglund (NOR)
Assistant Referee 2: Frank Andås (NOR)

Celtic FC – NK Maribor
Referee: Viktor Kassai (HUN)
Assistant Referee 1: György Ring (HUN)
Assistant Referee 2: Vencel Tóth (HUN)

APOEL Nicosia – Aalborg BK
Referee: William Collum (SCO)
Assistant Referee 1: William Conquer (SCO)
Assistant Referee 2: Gavin Harris (SCO)

On Wednesday, keep an eye on the excellent Alberto Undiano Mallenco of Spain (above), officiating Ludogorets and Steaua Bucharest. Many believe that Undiano, and not Carlos Velasco Carballo, is Spain’s top referee and should have gone to the World Cup instead of Velasco. (And after Velasco’s dreadful quarterfinal performance, it’s hard to argue.)

Pedro Proenca of Portugal and Cuneyt Cakir of Turkey – both World Cup referees – will take Arsenal’s and Napoli’s ties, respectively. England’s current number one, Mark Clattenburg, has Leverkusen v. Copenhagen.

Slovenia’s Damir Skomina (a good referee whose team’s inconsistency probably kept him out of Brazil) is in action, as well.

Ludogorets – Steaua Bucuresti
Referee: Alberto Undiano Mallenco (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Roberto Díaz Pérez del Palomar (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Juan Yuste (ESP)

Malmö FF – RB Salzburg
Referee: Damir Skomina (SVN)
Assistant Referee 1: Jure Praprotnik (SVN)
Assistant Referee 2: Robert Vukan (SVN)

Athletic Club – SSC Napoli
Referee: Cüneyt Çakır (TUR)
Assistant Referee 1: Bahattin Duran (TUR)
Assistant Referee 2: Tarık Ongun (TUR)

Arsenal FC – Besiktas JK
Referee: Pedro Proença (POR)
Assistant Referee 1: Bertino Miranda (POR)
Assistant Referee 2: Paulo Soares (POR)

Bayer Leverkusen – FC København
Referee: Mark Clattenburg (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Simon Beck (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Jake Collin (ENG)