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
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Here are the referees for the Europa League Quarterfinals, to be played April 10 Pavel Kralovec (CZECH) Benfica v. AZ Kralovec is a popular referee within FIFA, who was on the top 52 list for the World Cup, but didn’t quite make it. Alberto Undiano Mallenco (ESP), Juventus v. Lyon Undiano is also not on the World Cup list, losing
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First of all, despite what Cristiano Ronaldo says, El Clasico referee Alberto Undiano Mallenco actually had a good match. He stayed calm and centered and played the kind of advantage that allowed such a high scoring game in the first place. He kept the game flowing. Even when the players tussled, he seemed completely unruffled, standing back patiently while they
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The Champions League referees for Wednesday, March 19 have been announced. UEFA have clearly moved away from using non-Elite referees in these matches, because these guys are about as Elite as they come. Arguably the world’s top ref, Bjorn Kuipers (above), will referee Manchester United’s tie against Olympiakos. Moyes and company shouldn’t have much to complain about there; Kuipers is
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NOTE: This refers to an appointment in the past. See the sidebar for updated appointments. Alberto Undiano Mallenco has been chosen to referee El Clasico, Real Madrid v. Barcelona, at the Bernabeu on March 23. Despite Carlos Velasco Carballo getting the call up for the World Cup, Undiano Mallenco is definitely the new hotness in Spanish refereeing. In fact, he’s so hot that when
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