UEFA could hardly choose more experienced than this referee.
Björn Kuipers, 47 years old and 55 Champions League games on the clock, will officiate this Tuesday February 16 in the first leg of the round of 16 between FC Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain.
The Dutchman is well known to both clubs, although he leaves contrasting memories with PSG fans.
This will be the sixth time that he has been designated for a meeting of the Parisians.
In September 2012, Kuipers officiated for the first match of the Champions League of PSG under the Qatar era, against Dynamo Kiev (4-1).
A few months later, we find him already at Camp Nou in Barcelona, for the return of the quarter-finals, concluded by a draw (1-1) which eliminated the Parisians of Carlo Ancelotti.
The exclusion of Ibrahimovic from Chelsea-PSG in 2015
But the most “controversial” decision came in March 2015 during the hot Chelsea-PSG counting for the second leg (2-2, ap).
From the half hour mark, Kuipers excludes Zlatan Ibrahimovic for an uncontrolled tackle.
Which ultimately led to one of the finest Parisian exploits in the history of the competition.
Laurent Blanc's players were heroic at the end of the match then in overtime to eliminate the Blues.
In November 2018, Kuipers returned for a meeting of the group stage, in Naples (1-1).
The Dutchman awarded the Italians a penalty.
A logical decision, even if he will be criticized by Neymar and his teammates for a penalty "forgotten" on Juan Bernat.
Finally, we find Kuipers in the summer of 2020 during the Final 8 in Lisbon.
Designated for the semi-final of PSG against Leipzig (3-0), he had mastered the meeting.
The Barça-PSG arbitration on Tuesday will be scrutinized from all sides.
Four years ago, during the famous comeback, this 6-1 inflicted by the Catalans, the performance of the German referee Deniz Aytekin left the Parisians with many regrets.
The coach at the time, Unai Emery, never digested the arbitration of March 8, 2017. “There are a lot of details in this game that can be examined.
But if I start at the end, I would change the referee and that's it, ”said the Basque in May 2020.
