The referee designated by UEFA for referee The semi-final retou of the Champions League between the Inter of Milan and FC Barcelona will be the Polish Szymon Marciniak. His name may not tell you anything but you have already seen him several times since 2022. It was he who was in particular at the whistle of the last final of the world Cup, between Argentina and the Blues (3-3, 4 Tab 2).
Szymon Marciniak and his controversial decisions
More recently, he was talked about worldwide after refusing Julian Alvarez’s goal (suspected of having touched the ball twice, without any clear image being provided by the Var), the Atlético de Madrid striker, against Real Madrid, in the 8th return final of the Champions League.
A few years ago, Szymon Marciniak was considered one of the best referees in the world, before his image was tarnished by several disputed decisions. Last season, it was he who had whistled prematurely the end of the match between Bayern Munich and Real Madrid while Matthijs de Ligt had just scored (some would say that the defense of the Merengue had stopped, but difficult to determine the outcome of the action if the rule had been applied). The Polish referee had then not respected the rule which the action continues even in the event of a possible outdoor.
In 2017, he also refereed the 8th round of the first leg-Barça (4-0), three weeks before the Historical Rontada of the Blaugrana (6-1).
In 2023, he also refereed the final of the Champions League between Manchester City and Inter (1-0).
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At Var, old knowledge of Barça
The VAR controller duo will be made up of Dennis Hingler and Pol Van Boekel, two Dutch referees. In 2021/2022, already in a decisive match between Inter and Barça (1-1), Dennis Hingler had forgotten to report a hand in the surface of his compatriot Denzel Dumfries. The latter is still in the Milanese workforce and marked a double in the first leg.
Regarding Pol van Boekel, it was he who enabled Karim Benzema to make a lack of way on Gianluigi Donnarumma before the goal of the former Blues striker a few seconds later, during the Real Madrid victory against PSG in 2022.
A bad memory for both teams
Polish Szymon Marciniak hasn’t really smiled at Barça and Inter in the past. The Catalans only won once in five when he was the whistle (2 draws and 2 losses).
Inter, for its part, only won twice in nine games (4 defeats and 3 draws) with this referee.
At the end of the evening this Tuesday, we will know which of the two teams will improve its statistics and qualify for the final of the Champions League, against Arsenal or PSG, on May 31, in Munich.
