Champions League Referee Appointments - Prognoses for Round of 16 (I)

After a (too) long break of nine weeks without UEFA Champions League matches, the first bunch of round of 16 first legs - four of them - will be played on 12 and 13 February. Based on two already known referee teams who will get one of these four matches and the UEFA referee observers assigned for these clashes, one may attempt to expose prognoses of the referee appointments to be unveiled on Sunday and Monday.

Matches to be provided with officiating sextettes:

• 12 Feb.: Celtic Glasgow (SCO) - Juventus Turin (ITA), observed by Uno Tutk (EST)

• 12 Feb.: Valencia CF (ESP) - Paris S.G. (FRA), observed by Donald McVicar (SCO)

• 13 Feb.: Real Madrid (ESP) - Manchester United (ENG), observed by Bertrand Layec (FRA)

• 13 Feb.: Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR) - Borussia Dortmund (GER), observed by Jean Lemmer (LUX)

Known officiating teams active at 12 or 13 February (referee, assistants, additional assistants, fourth official):

• Felix Brych - Mark Borsch, Stefan Lupp - Marco Fritz, Tobias Welz (Germany)

• Alberto Undiano Mallenco - Roberto Díaz Pérez Del Palomar, Jesús Calvo Guadamuro - Fernando Teixeira Vitienes, César Muñiz Fernández - Raúl Cabañero Martínez (Spain)

Felix Brych and ManU.. (c) ZIMBIO

Felix Brych's assistant referee Mark Borsch has been appointed by German football federation DFB to attend a 2nd Bundesliga match in Berlin on Monday evening. It is therefore impossible to consider the German team as available for a match on 12 February, while on Tuesday only Valencia - PSG seems to be possible, as Brych refereed Celtic vs Spartak Moskva on matchday 6 in the group stage. Hence, he and his team actually must be in charge of a match on Wednesday. Due to the nationality aspect, Brych and the rest of the team will take control over this stage's top match between Real Madrid and Manchester United, at least with a high degree of certainty. If this is confirmed, it will be another important step in his palmarès and brings him closer to the advanced pool of referees for Wembley final.

At the same time, Alberto Undiano and his team could handle two matches - either Celtic - Juventus or Shakhtar - Dortmund. Both ones seem to be absolutely within the bounds of possibility. However, if one has a closer look on the appointed referee observers, one will recognize that Luxembourg's Jean Lemmer assessed Undiano twice during the last two seasons. A third time would be quite abnormal and perhaps even to be avoided. For this reason, I predict him for Celtic - Juventus, even though I think his refereeing style would fit more to the match played in Ukraine. 

Undiano several times revealed that his decisions are generally on a very good level, while he often failed to maintain an adequate level of authority and match control. The match atmosphere at Celtic Park won't be easy: it is the second loudest stadium on the European continent.

Taking these two prognoses as premises for the other matches, the choice is not that plentiful anymore. With Scotsman Donald McVicar, a regular observer has been nominated for Valencia - Paris S.G. who normally observes experienced Elite officials. Spanish, French, English and Scottish referees are impossible for this match.

The match itself could be very scarce and more important than it sounds. Referees like Viktor Kassai (HUN), Jonas Eriksson (SWE) or an Italian like Paolo Tagliavento (ITA) are my personal favourites for this match - Eriksson will have no match next week though. It even could be Pedro Proença (POR), as McVicar frequently observes Portuguese referees. However, I believe that Proença and Kassai should be maintained for more relevant matches such as Arsenal - Bayern or AC Milan - FC Barcelona. Therefore, my prediction is: Paolo Tagliavento from Italy.

Finally, Shakhtar Donetsk - Borussia Dortmund is on paper a very interesting and important match for the further course of the competition. Jean Lemmer of Luxembourg normally observes developing Elite or ED referees, but sometimes also assesses experienced Elite officials. 

Shakhtar convinced in a difficult group with Juventus and holders Chelsea London, while Dortmund were the probably most surprising team leaving Real Madrid, Ajax Amsterdam and Manchester City behind. This implies that both teams could not be handled by an English official in group stage. Although this match could pose an immense test for William Collum (SCO) or Svein Oddvar Moen (NOR), too, I prefer an Englishman in Donbass Arena, more precisely, my choice would be made between Mark Clattenburg and/or Howard Webb. I rely on Howard Webb for Shakhtar - Dortmund.

Howard Webb et al. in AC Milan 1:1 Málaga CF (c) ZIMBIO

In a nutshell, I put forward these prognoses - being aware that UEFA will again hoax me:

• 12 Feb.: Celtic Glasgow (SCO) - Juventus Turin (ITA): Alberto Undiano Mallenco (ESP)

• 12 Feb.: Valencia CF (ESP) - Paris S.G. (FRA): Paolo Tagliavento (ITA)

• 13 Feb.: Real Madrid (ESP) - Manchester United (ENG): Felix Brych (GER)

• 13 Feb.: Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR) - Borussia Dortmund (GER): Howard Webb (ENG)

What do you think?