Who is Radu Petrescu, the referee for Aston Villa - Bayern Munich in the Champions League today?

Romania’s Radu Petrescu will referee today’s Champions League clash between Aston Villa and Bayern Munich, as the Premier League club plays its first home European Cup game in just over four decades.

What is Radu Petrescu’s UCL record?

Petrescu will be making his fourth appearance in the Champions League. The 41-year-old was given his tournament debut when he took charge of Barcelona’s 4-2 group-stage win over Viktoria Plzen in November 2022, before overseeing two round-robin matches last term: a 5-0 win for Barça over Royal Antwerp, and a 1-1 draw between Lens and PSV Eindhoven.

So far in his Champions League career, Petrescu has averaged four yellow cards a game and is yet to send a player off.

While the Bucharest native was only recently elevated to Europe’s elite club competition, he is now in his ninth year as a referee in the continental game. Since 2016, he has run the rule over 18 games across the Europa League and the Conference League, including five knockout ties.

Petrescu is yet to cross paths with either Villa or Bayern.

Aston Villa take on Bayern in 1982 final repeat

Villa host heavyweight opposition in Birmingham, where they last played European Cup soccer back in March 1983. What’s more, the Villains face the club they beat in the previous year’s final, when Peter Withe’s second-half goal clinched the club’s first and only continental crown. Unai Emery’s men welcome Bayern to Villa Park on the back of victory in their Champions League opener two weeks ago, having eased to a 3-0 win over Young Boys in Switzerland.

Six-time European champions Bayern, who have added three titles to their trophy cabinet since Villa last featured at this level, also began their Champions League campaign with three points. Indeed, the Bavarians made history in the process: Vincent Kompany’s men became the first team to score nine times in a Champions League game when they thrashed Dinamo Zagreb 9-2 in Munich.

Aston Villa vs Bayern Munich: start time, how to watch

Aston Villa vs Bayern is scheduled to kick off at 3 p.m. ET/12 noon PT. Viewers in the US can watch the league-phase matchday-two game on Paramount+ and Vix.

Who is the VAR? Full list of Aston Villa vs Bayern officials

Petrescu will be heading up an almost all-Romanian team of officials at Villa Park. His assistant referees will be Radu Ghinguleac and Mircea Mihail Grigoriu, and the fourth official will be Marcel Birsan. The video assistant referee (VAR) will be the only non-Romanian - the Netherlands’ Rob Dieperink - and the assistant VAR will be Catalin Popa.