UEFA has chosen French referee Clément Turpin to officiate the second leg of the 2026 Champions League quarter-final between Barcelona and Atlético Madrid.
The Catalan club lost the first leg 2-0 at home and needs a comeback at the Wanda Metropolitano on Tuesday. However, Turpin’s appointment doesn’t bode well for Hansi Flick and his team.
Overall, the Frenchman has officiated five Barcelona matches, with the team winning twice, drawing once, and losing twice. Ironically, Barcelona has always been eliminated from the Champions League with Turpin as referee.
The disastrous start came in 2018 when Roma staged a historic comeback at the Stadio Olimpico, eliminating the Blaugrana in the quarter-finals in the Italian capital.
In 2021, Barcelona, again with Turpin as referee, were knocked out by Manchester United in the Europa League play-off round, losing 2-1.
Barcelona’s pessimism regarding the French referee was compounded by his officiating of their Champions League semi-final first leg against Inter Milan last season, which ended in a 3-3 draw.
It’s worth noting that the first leg, officiated by Istvan Kovac, saw a number of controversial decisions, most notably the sending off of Pau Koparsi and the referee’s refusal to award Barcelona a penalty in the second half.
