It’ll be the Dance of the Hard to Pronounce Referees when Champions League action resumes on Tuesday. World Cup referee Milorad Mazic of Serbia will call arguably the biggest game of the day: Atletico Madrid v. Real Madrid. Mazic (above) is a quick tempered and often physical referee who isn’t afraid to mix it up with the players, so it’ll be interesting
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Bjorn Kuipers is a good referee. And for the most part, his part in the 4-1 Real Madrid extra time win over Atletico Madrid in the Champions League Final was played well. If you’re a Real Madrid fan, you thought he was great. Unfortunately, for everyone else – Atletico Madrid fans and neutrals – what he did well is overshadowed
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When Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid clash in the Champions League final on Saturday, one of refereeing’s rising stars will be in the middle: Bjorn Kuipers of the Netherlands. And who better to help us get to know a distinguished Dutch referee than…a Dutch referee? Or rather, The Dutch Referee. If you haven’t checked out Jan’s blog, I’d highly recommend
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Surprise! Not really. As I predicted, the Dutchman and the German will take the Champions League and Europa League finals. Bjorn Kuipers, a supermarket owner from the Netherlands, will manage the Champions League final between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid in Lisbon, Portugal on May 24. Read more about Kuipers appointment on UEFA.com. Dr. Felix Brych, who is from Germany
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Add yet another feather of refereeing oddness to the Honey Badger’s cap. Italy’s Nicola Rizzoli gave Diego Costa a deserved penalty kick in Atletico Madrid’s Champions League semifinal clash with Chelsea, after Samuel Eto’o clumsily chopped him down in the box. But Costa went all “princess and the pea”, bizarrely claiming the ball wasn’t sitting right and continuing to spin
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It’s official: Chelsea get the Honey Badger. Italy’s Nicola Rizzoli, who officiated the 2013 Champions League final, will referee the Chelsea v Atletico Madrid semifinal at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday, April 30. This is bad news for Chelsea’s manager, Jose Mourinho, and his band of thugs. Rizzoli is known as heavy-handed with the cards, even internationally, and he has no
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The Atletico Madrid v. Chelsea Champions League semifinal will be officiated by The Big Swede: Jonas Eriksson. Eriksson has been very active in European action this season. In addition to some Europa league matches (including Tottenham’s), he refereed Manchester City v. Barcelona in the Group of 16 and Bayern Munich v. Manchester United in the quarterfinals. He’s performed pretty well in
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It’s the attack of the middle-aged bald(ing) referees for Champions League on Wednesday, April 9. Jonas Eriksson of Sweden will referee Bayern Munich v. Manchester United, and Howard Webb of England will officiate Atletico Madrid v. Barcelona. The last time Jonas Eriksson officiated a Manchester team in the Champions League, he had a really hard time of it (see above).
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We’re in the quarterfinals of the Champions League, which means shit gets real for both the teams and the referees. From this point on, I’d be surprised to see an “outlier” amongst the Champions League referees. I think you’ll see the best of the best: The men who are not only at the top of their UEFA form, but are
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PLAY THE ADVANTAGE 