UEFA has appointed the referee for the first leg of the 2026 Champions League quarter-final between Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, to be held at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.
Throughout history, matches between Real Madrid and Bayern Munich have witnessed numerous controversial refereeing decisions, making the selection of the referee for this season’s encounter a matter of great interest to fans.
Michael Oliver will officiate the Real Madrid vs. Bayern Munich match
UEFA has selected the renowned English referee Michael Oliver to officiate the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final between Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.
The 41-year-old referee has officiated seven Champions League matches this season, issuing 27 yellow cards and failing to award any penalties or send off any players.
Oliver has also officiated six league matches this season, the most notable of which was undoubtedly the Paris Saint-Germain vs. Barcelona match at the Camp Nou, which PSG won 2-1.
Oliver also officiated the Real Madrid vs. Olympiacos match, where Kylian Mbappé scored four goals, leading Los Blancos to a valuable 4-3 victory in Greece.
The Englishman also officiated one Round of 16 play-off match, the one between Olympiacos and Bayer Leverkusen, and did not appear in the Round of 16. Now he returns with a major quarter-final match.
Oliver’s most recent appearance was last Saturday when he officiated the Manchester City vs. Liverpool match in the 2016 FA Cup quarter-final, where the Etihad Stadium home side crushed their visitors 4-0, awarding two penalties.
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Oliver with Real Madrid in a previous Champions League quarter-final
Undoubtedly, Michael Oliver’s most famous Champions League match as a referee dates back to the 2017-18 season, specifically the second leg of the quarter-final, when he officiated the Juventus vs. Real Madrid match at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.
In that match, Juventus took a commanding 3-0 lead before referee Oliver awarded a controversial penalty after Mehdi Benatia’s challenge on Lucas Vázquez in the dying moments, in one of the most memorable moments in the competition’s history.
Cristiano Ronaldo converted the penalty past Wojciech Szczęsny, who had replaced the ejected Gianluigi Buffon for protesting Oliver’s decision. Real Madrid advanced to the semi-finals and ultimately won the title.
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This will be the fifth match the English referee has officiated for Real Madrid, having previously refereed the Juventus game, the 2022 UEFA Super Cup match against Eintracht Frankfurt (which Real won 2-0), the 2024 Champions League group stage victory against Sporting Braga (2-1), and this season’s Olympiacos game.
Oliver also has a good history with Bayern Munich.
While Real Madrid have won three times and lost once by default with Oliver as referee, Bayern Munich history with the renowned English referee is also very positive.
Oliver officiated Bayern Munich’s 4-2 victory over Flamengo in the 2025 Club World Cup, and also witnessed Bayern’s 3-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen in last season’s Champions League, as well as their 1-0 victory over Paris Saint-Germain in the 2022-23 season.
Bayern’s worst result with Oliver was a 1-1 draw against Red Bull Salzburg in 2022, while the Germans triumphed 9-3 over Barcelona in the 2017-18 edition.
