Wednesday may be Tax Day in America, but at least there’s some decent Champions League matches to offset it. England’s Mark Clattenburg (above) continues his march to the big time with the marquee matchup: Paris St. Germain v. Barcelona. This is a bit of a risk for me, since my friend and rabid PSG fan, France (not his real name), will blame me
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Antonio Mateu Lahoz has gotten the nod for the El Clasico version of the Copa Del Rey final. Barcelona and Real Madrid will face off in Valencia on Wednesday, April 16. Mateu Lahoz is Valenciano himself, which may have tipped the scales in his favor, despite his never having refereed a Clasico before. The fact that top Spanish referee Alberto
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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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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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The Champions League referees for the second leg of the Round of 16 have been announced. The rather anti-climactic tie between Paris Saint-Germain and Bayer Leverkusen (PSG leads about a billion to nil on aggregate) will be refereed by Croatia’s top official, Ivan Bebek (above). Stephane Lannoy of France, whose year has included being the first French official in forever
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As you may recall, Manuel Pellegrini blamed his team’s loss to Barcelona in their Champions League tie on the referee, Jonas Eriksson of Sweden (who happens to be very highly-rated). Look, a lot of managers do that. I don’t like it and I don’t respect managers who do it. But it happens. But this was a whole different level. It wasn’t just
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There were two huge red card decisions in this past week’s Champions League first leg ties. Each of the cards had massive impact not only on the matches, but on the overall ties. In both cases, English teams were facing formidable opponents (Barcelona and Bayern Munich, respectively) and found themselves giving up vital away goals after losing a man. So,
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Manuel Pellegrini’s Manchester City side lost their Champions League tie to Barcelona today, 0-2, in case you were hiding under a rock all day. One of the key factors (though certainly not the only one) was the penalty awarded to Barcelona just after halftime when Martin Demichelis took down Lionel Messi at the edge of the area. Replays showed it
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PLAY THE ADVANTAGE 