This week’s biggest game is no doubt Real Madrid v. Atletico Madrid Wednesday, and I’m sure none of my regular readers will be surprised that I’m super excited about it. Not because it will be a great match (which it no doubt will be), but because it will be refereed by the one, the only: Dr. Dreamy. Yes, German referee
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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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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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Undoubtedly the biggest match – Atletico Madrid v. Juventus – goes to Dr. Dreamy himself – Dr. Felix Brych of Germany (above). Not only is the good doctor quite easy on the eyes, he’s a damn good referee, having officiated the last Europa League final and at the World Cup. My only hesitation is that Brych is not the paciest
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Some big games this week, and some equally big refereeing names to officiate. Because there is so much going on, I’m trying a slightly different format for this post. CSKA Moskva – FC Bayern München Referee: William Collum (SCO) Assistant Referee 1: William Conquer (SCO) Assistant Referee 2: Graham Chambers (SCO) Collum’s actually been called on by UEFA quite a
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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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Well, it certainly seems that UEFA front loaded the big names into Tuesday’s playoffs: Rizzoli, Eriksson, Mazic, Brych and Velasco. Wednesday’s referees aren’t nearly as illustrious, with one notable exception: Bjorn Kuipers of Netherlands. Kuipers (above) is, in my opinion, the most naturally gifted and talented referee out there, despite my undisputed love for Nicola Rizzoli. Had Netherlands not made it
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They’re back! In case you didn’t get enough of Dr. Dreamy and Mr. Smooth in the World Cup, the boys are back in town. That’s right, there will be playoffs for Champions League spots across Europe on Tuesday, and some of UEFA’s top referees will be in the middle. Chief amongst them will be The Man Himself, Nicola Rizzoli of
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Mark Clattenburg takes another big step up the ladder on August 12, when he referees the UEFA Super Cup. He’ll be in the middle when the winners of the 2013 Champions League, Real Madrid, take on the winners of the Europa League, Sevilla, in Cardiff, Wales. His preferred team, Simon Beck and Stuart Burt, will be his assistants, and Darren England
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Ever since Sergio Ramos’ 93rd-minute shot heard ’round the world in the Champions League final, people have been talking about stoppage time. Whether you believe referee Bjorn Kuipers’ decision to add five minutes to the second half was right or wrong, there’s no doubt that it impacted the match. So, how do referees decide how many minutes of stoppage time
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