CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Who is Artur Dias, the referee for Real Madrid vs Manchester City?
Portugal’s Dias, 43, will take charge of Real Madrid and Manchester City’s Champions League semi-final first leg at the Bernabéu today.
Portugal’s Artur Dias will be the match referee today as Real Madrid and Manchester City kick off their box-office Champions League semi-final with the first leg at the Bernabéu.
A FIFA international referee since 2010, Dias has crossed paths with the teams three times each in Europe’s elite club competition.
The 43-year-old oversaw Madrid’s 6-0 win at Apoel FC in November 2017, Los Blancos’ 3-0 home defeat to CSKA Moscow in December 2018, and their 2-2 home draw with Paris Saint-Germain in November 2019.
Meanwhile, Dias took charge of City’s 3-0 win at Shakhtar Donetsk in September 2019, their 2-0 victory away to Borussia Mönchengladbach in February 2021, and the Sky Blues’ 0-0 draw at Copenhagen in October this season.
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Dias’ first Champions League semi-final
The Mönchengladbach tie, a last-16 first leg, is Dias’ only previous Champions League knockout-stage match involving City or Madrid.
Indeed, of his 20 appearances in the tournament since his debut in 2016/17, the Portuguese has only been appointed to one other knockout game: Napoli’s 2-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt in this term’s last 16. This will be Dias’ first experience of the Champions League semi-finals.
Red card-free in the UCL - until this season...
Curiously, he had never sent a player off in the competition until his two most recent matches. One of the men dismissed was a City player: during the Premier League champions’ goalless draw with Copenhagen, Sergio Gómez was given his march orders for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity. Dias then showed Frankfurt’s Randal Kolo Muani a straight red card for a foul on Napoli’s André-Frank Zambo Anguissa in February.
Dias did initially send Madrid’s Thibaut Courtois off in the Spaniards’ stalemate with PSG three and a half years ago, only to overturn the decision after a video review.
While he has never previously refereed a Champions League semi, Dias has two Europa League last-four ties on his CV. He was the man in the middle for Villarreal’s 2-1 win over Arsenal in 2021, and Rangers’ 3-1 victory over RB Leipzig a year later.
Who are the other officials for Real Madrid vs Manchester City?
At the Bernabéu today, Dias’ assistant referees will be compatriots Paulo Soares and Pedro Ribeiro, and the fourth official will be Italy’s Daniele Orsato.
Massmiliano Irrati, also Italian, will be the video assistant referee (VAR), and Portugal’s Tiago Martins will be the assistant VAR.