UEFA has appointed Italian referee Maurizio Mariani to officiate the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 match between Real Madrid and Manchester City.
This will be Mariani’s fifth Champions League match this season, having previously refereed the Liverpool vs. Atlético Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain vs. Bayern Munich fixtures.
The 44-year-old has issued 22 yellow cards and one red card in the Champions League, and has not awarded any penalties in his five matches.
This will be Mariani’s third time refereeing a Real Madrid match in the Champions League.
The first time was in the 2022-23 group stage, when Real Madrid defeated RB Leipzig 2-0.
The most recent time was against Lille last season in the league, where Real Madrid suffered a surprising 1-0 defeat.
As for City, he has officiated one match for them, which was against Sparta Prague in the group stage last year, and the English club won 5-0.
