SOCCER
Who is Daniel Siebert, the referee for PSG - Girona in the Champions League today?
Siebert will be the man in the middle for Girona’s Champions League bow, as Paris Saint-Germain host the LaLiga club.
Germany’s Daniel Siebert will be today’s referee at the Parc des Princes, where French giants Paris Saint-Germain are to host tournament debutants Girona in the opening week of the revamped UEFA Champions League.
After a surprise third-placed finish in LaLiga last season, Girona are making their first appearance in European competition in their nearly 100-year history. PSG, meanwhile, are heading into their 13th straight season in the Champions League - but are yet to win the continent’s top trophy, despite major investment from their Qatari owners over the past 13 years.
How has the UCL format changed?
PSG and Girona face off on matchday one of the Champions League’s newly introduced league phase, which has replaced the tournament’s group stage.
Under the new format, every club will play eight games against eight different teams in the Champions League’s initial phase - four at home and four away. Rather than being placed into groups of four, clubs will be ranked in one 36-team table, with the top eight qualifying automatically for the last 16. The remaining eight knockout-stage places will be up for grabs in a playoff round contested by the teams finishing ninth to 24th.
Who is Daniel Siebert?
Siebert, 40, has been a Champions League referee since the 2018/19 season. In total, he has overseen 13 games in the competition, including two involving PSG.
He was appointed to the Ligue 1 club’s 5-0 thrashing of Belgians Club Brugge in 2019/20 group stage, and to the team’s 3-1 group win over Israelis Maccabi Haifi in 2022/23. Both were away victories for PSG; Siebert has never refereed at the Parc des Princes. Unsurprisingly, given Girona’s absence from European soccer until now, he has never previously crossed paths with the Blanquivermells.
In the German game, Siebert has refereed 171 matches in the Bundesliga since his top-flight debut in 2012. His growing reputation in the German and European game also led him to be handed the final of the DFB-Pokal in 2023, as RB Leipzig beat Eintracht Frankfurt 2-0 to lift the country’s major domestic cup.
In international soccer, the Berlin native was on the roster of referees for World Cup 2022 and Euro 2024, overseeing two group-stage games at each tournament.
See also
Who are Siebert’s assistants for PSG vs Girona? Who is the VAR?
Siebert will be heading up an all-German team of officials in Paris. His assistant referees will be Jan Seidel and Rafael Foltyn, and the fourth official will be Daniel Schlager. Christian Dingert will be the video assistant referee (VAR) and the assistant VAR will be Bastian Dankert.