István Kovács to referee UEFA Champions League clash between Real Madrid and Manchester City in Last-16 Play-Off Second-Leg | OneFootball

UEFA have confirmed that a predominantly Romanian team of match officials will oversee proceedings at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday night.

Manchester City travel to the Spanish capital fresh off the back of a dominant victory in Premier League action against Newcastle United on Saturday afternoon, but knowing that they will need to be at their blistering best to overturn a deficit this week.

A first-half hat-trick from new January signing Omar Marmoush presented the Egyptian star to English football in remarkable circumstances, as the 26-year-old proved exactly why he was one of the finest contributors to goals in German football at Eintracht Frankfurt.

James McAtee rounded off the scoring in injury time as he connected at the back-post from a flick-on from Erling Haaland handing himself yet another goal contribution when being entrusted by Pep Guardiola to see a game out from the bench.

Matters this week will be far more complex however, as Real Madrid look to protect the 3-2 lead they earned themselves at the Etihad Stadium last week when Erling Haaland’s brace was still not enough to record a win for Manchester City.

The Norwegian striker saw his opening goal cancelled out by Kylian Mbappe early in the second-half, before his penalty deep into the game was overturned by Brahim Diaz and Jude Bellingham’s goals beyond a despairing City back-line.

Now, ahead of the meeting between Real Madrid and Manchester City this week, UEFA have now announced the list of match officials to oversee proceedings at the Santiago Bernabeu!

Match Referee

UEFA have confirmed this week that the experienced Romanian official, István Kovács has been appointed as match referee for Real Madrid against Manchester City on Wednesday night.

The 40-year-old will be taking charge of his 25th match across all competitions this week and his sixth outing in the ongoing UEFA Champions League campaign, having handed out 88 cards all season and awarding seven penalties.

City have seen three of their previous European outings officiated by Kovács, winning all three in a 1-5 away victory over Club Brugge in the Champions League’s 2021 Group Stage and a 1-0 win over Atletico Madrid in a Quarter-Final 1st-Leg tie in the same season.

The third and most-recent time the Romanian referee has come across Manchester City came in the same campaign, and in a meeting between Pep Guardiola’s side and Real Madrid at the Semi-Final stage of the competition.

That night saw City emerge as 4-3 victors on a dramatic evening in the competition, before late antics from Real Madrid in the reverse second-leg at the Santiago Bernabeu ensured Los Blancos’ place in the final.

Assistant Referees

Joining István Kovács on the pitch at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday night will be fellow Romanian match officials, Mihai Marica and Ferencz Tunyogi in the roles of Assistant Referees.

Video Assistant Referees

As for officials appointed by UEFA to oversee proceedings from VAR this week, the Netherlands’ Dennis Higler has been appointed as Video Assistant Referee with Poland’s Tomasz Kwiatkowski as the Assistant Video Assistant Referee.

Fourth Official

Standing between Real Madrid’s Carlo Ancelotti and Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola in their respective dugouts at the Santiago Bernabeu will be Romanian referee, Horațiu Feșnic in the position of fourth official.