In two days, Paris Saint-Germain will face its destiny. Opposed to FC Barcelona in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, the capital club lost (2-3) in the first leg last Wednesday. While it has never managed to reverse a situation after a defeat at home in the first round of a C1 final phase match, PSG will have to achieve a perfect match to win. And why not count on favorable arbitration, which will be ensured by Mr. Istvan Kovacs.
The Romanian official was appointed this Sunday by UEFA to lead the debates in the return match, scheduled for Tuesday April 16 (9 p.m.), along with his assistants Vasile Florin Marinescu, Ovidiu Artene and Horațiu Feșnic.
Bad memories for French clubs
Accustomed to high-level meetings on the European scene, since he was on the whistle for the extraordinary semi-final first leg between Manchester City and Real Madrid (4-3) during the 2021-2022 edition of the League of Nations. champions, or the final of the Europa Conference League between AS Roma and Feyenoord Rotterdam (1-0) the same season, the man in black did not, however, leave a great memory for Parisian followers.
Referee of the Ile-de-France rout at Newcastle at the start of the season (4-1, October 4, 2023), Mr. Kovacs had forgotten a potential red card which could have been given to Bruno Guimaraes, author of a punch in the face by Manuel Ugarte.
The 39-year-old also showed two yellow cards synonymous with expulsion towards Geoffrey Kondogia during the third preliminary round of C1 between Olympique de Marseille and Panathinaikos (0-1, August 9, 2023). The Olympian club subsequently contested with UEFA the appointment of the Romanian referee for its round of 16 second leg of the Europa League against Villarreal, lost 3-1 at the end of March.
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