CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Who is István Kovács, referee for Barcelona-PSG Champions League clash?
The Romanian match official has overseen one game involving PSG this season with the French side beating Newcastle in the group stage.
Romanian referee István Kovács has been designated by UEFA to oversee Tuesday’s Barcelona game at home to Paris Saint-Germain in the second leg of the quarter-final of the 23-34 Champions League.
The tie is far from over despite the Catalan side holding an advantage following their 2-3 win last Wednesday in the French capital.
Tuesday’s game in Montjuic will be the first time ever that Kovács oversees a Barça game in the Champions League but has officiated the azulgrana once before in a Europa League clash during the 2021-22 season as the Catalan giants played out a 1-1 draw against Napoli at Camp Nou.
The 39-year-old has officiated PSG on two times in the past, monitoring a 5-0 victory against Galatasaray in 2019-2020 group stage and this season took charge of Luis Enrique’s men beating Newcastle United also in the group stage.
That game was his first of five 2023-2024 UCL games with the Romanian also in charge for Arsenal-Sevilla and Inter’s San Siro Round of 16 win over Atlético.
The highlight of Kovács international career was undoubtedly the 2021-2022 Conference League final as Jose Mourinho’s AS Roma bagged European silverware with a 1-0 win over Dutch giants Feyenoord.
Joining him on the night will be compatriots Vasile Florin Marinescu and Ovidiu Artene with the fourth referee set to be Horatiu Fesnic with German Bastian Dankert in charge of VAR duties in the tie.