It is certain that Red Star will play one of the two key matches in the Champions League already tomorrow. Leipzig will arrive at the Maracana and a good result would open the door to third place in the Europa League this spring.
The Serbian champion will not have an easy task. And neither does the referee appointed by UEFA for the match in Belgrade. One of the best arbitrators will dispense justice, and it is an Italian – Daniele Orsato.
This is a referee who has officiated extremely important matches such as the 2020 Champions League final between Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain.
That year, Orsato was named the best referee in the world. His quality has not decreased, which was recognized by FIFA, who awarded him the semi-final of the World Cup Argentina – Croatia last year.
Red Star already had experience with the Italian who refereed the match with Olympiacos in the Champions League when the Serbian champions were defeated 1:0 in Athens, as well as in the match with Salzburg in 2018.
Assistant referees on the field will be Ciro Carbone and Alessandro Giallatini, while the names of the people who will sit in the VAR room are still unknown. The fourth referee for this match will be Michael Fabri, also from Italy.
By the way, Orsato has already refereed one match in the Champions League this season, namely the one between PSV Eindhoven and Sevilla, which ended with a score of 2:2. In that match, he handed out five yellow cards and is generally considered a referee who is “easy” on public reprimands.
We’ll see how it will look like tomorrow from 21:00 when Zvezda will try to make a surprise at Maracana…
