CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Tottenham vs Milan: who is Clement Turpin, the referee for the Champions League second-leg?
On Wednesday we’ll see Spurs attempt to overturn a one-goal deficit against the Serie A team with a place in the quarter finals at stake.
Get your highwayman puns at the ready as French referee Clement Turpin has been appointed to take charge of the second leg of the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 match between Tottenham Hotspur and AC Milan at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Wednesday. The 40-year-old has been a FIFA-listed referee since 2010 and has officiated at two World Cups and two European Championships, as well as the 2021 Europa League final and the 2022 Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid.
Champions League experienced Turpin
Turpin has refereed 542 games in his career, including 257 Ligue 1 games and 40 Champions League fixtures. However, he has only overseen three Tottenham games, with Spurs winning just one of them. The Frenchman will also be responsible for the all-important task of controlling the game between two teams that have had feisty encounters in the past, most memorably when former Tottenham coach Joe Jordan and ex-Milan midfielder Gennaro Gattuso almost came to blows.
Wednesday night will be just the third time Turpin has overseen a Milan game. In 2021 he was the man in the middle as Milan and Porto couldn’t be separated in their Champions League game and prior to that was in charge of the Rossoneri against the other north London team, Arsenal. In that Europa League clash, Milan went down at home 0-2.
In the three games that Turpin has whistled for Spurs, the Londoners have won once, lost twice, and received a total of five yellow cards... and did get one penalty in their favour too. As for Milan, he’s officiated for one draw and one loss, as detailed above. The Italians have only seen a single yellow card issued across those two matches.
Tottenham vs Milan: who is the VAR?
These days, controversy can often come not from the field of play but it the far away box that houses the VAR team. For this match Spaniard Alejandro Hernandez will have his beady eyes on proceedings looking out for all those clear and obvious errors.