Who is Szymon Marciniak, the referee for Real Madrid-Chelsea?
Marciniak last took charge of a Real Madrid game in November, when Madrid beat Sheriff Tiraspol 3-0 away from home.
Szymon Marciniak is the referee the Champions League quarter-final match between Real Madrid and Chelsea at the Santiago Bernabéu on Tuesday. The Polish official is refereeing a Real Madrid Champions League match for the fifth time as Chelsea look to turn a 3-1 deficit around in Madrid.
Marciniak is one of Poland’s most highly-respected match officials. The last time he took charge of a game involving Los Blancos was in the group stage of the competition earlier this season, when Madrid beat Sheriff Tiraspol 3-0 away from home.
The biggest call of the night so far happened when Chelsea player Marcos Alonso scored what appeared to be the visitor’s third goal, to put them ahead in the tie on aggregate, 3-4. However after a VAR review, Alonso was seen to have handled the ball before lashing it beyond Courtois. Under new rules, if the ball hits the hand of an attacking player in the build-up to the goal, that goal will be disallowed, even if it was unintentional. The goal was duly chalked off, and the game remained at 3-3.
Marciniak in Europe
The first time he officiated a match with the LaLiga giants was against Roma at the Santiago Bernabéu in the second leg of the last 16 of the 2015/16 Champions League. The following season he refereed Real Madrid-Borussia Dortmund on the sixth matchday of the group stage. He refereed again at the Bernabéu in 2017/18 against Tottenham on the third matchday of the group stage.
Marciniak also refereed Real Madrid’s European Super Cup final against cross-city rivals Atlético Madrid in 2018/19.
Tuesday’s match will be a lively affair for the 41-year-old official as both sides go out to advance to the semi-finals of the Champions League.
Referee stats
Marciniak has issued two red cards in his last four matches. He sent off Marseille player Gerson against PAOK in the Europa Conference League last week and handed out another red to Giannis Papanikolaou in a Polish league game between Rakow Czestochowa and Legia Warsaw last month.
The experienced official has issued cards on each of his last eight appointments, at an average of 4.25 per match.