This Tuesday, as part of the 5th day of the 2024-2025 Champions League, Paris Saint-Germain (25th) will face Bayern Munich (17th) at the Allianz Arena (kick-off at 9 p.m., broadcast on Canal+Foot). The referee for the match has been chosen, it will be István Kovács (40 years old). Which ultimately has littleexperience in the Champions League, with 24 matches on the clock since the 2018/2019 season.
The man with the whistle will be assisted by Mihai Marica and Ferencz Tunyogi. As for the role of 4th referee, it will be occupied by Florin Andrei. And video assistance will be provided by Pol van Boekel and Cătălin Popa.
Yellow cards –
With Mr. Batta on the whistle, we can expect yellow cards very quickly during the match. Indeed, while the average per meeting is 3,53 (standard deviation of 0.39), the referee on Sunday gave 4.75 yellows per match on average throughout his career in the Champions League (figures Transfer market). This is quite high, proof that the referee can be severe and uncompromising.
Direct red cards –
The man with the whistle this Sunday is not very strict in terms of direct exclusions, since he has a low tendency when it comes to distributing direct red cards. Indeed, Blacksmith is at 0,08 exclusion per match in his LDC career while the average per match is 0,17 (standard deviation of 0.09). As long as it's through good management, so much the better.
Second yellow cards –
Finally, István Kovács rather has the habit of sending off a player after his first yellow card in a match, since he gave a second warning to the same player 0,04 times per match on average. Which is much lower than the average, which is at 0,09 (standard deviation of 0.05). With a lot of yellows and few reds, it is ultimately proof that he can manage the teams without definitively sanctioning them.
Penalties –
Finally, in terms of penalties, the man with the whistle on Sunday is higher than average with 0,54 penalty whistled per match, while in Ligue 1 the average is 0,34 (standard deviation of 0.20).
