Liverpool/PSG: referee appointed for the second-leg quarter-final! | OneFootball

On Tuesday, April 14, for the second leg of the 2025-2026 Champions League quarter-finals (2-0 in the first leg), Paris Saint-Germain will face Liverpool at Anfield (kick-off at 9 p.m., live on Canal+). The referee for the match has been appointed: Maurizio Mariani (44 years old). He has growing Champions League experience, with 17 matches officiated.

The man in the middle will be assisted by Daniele Bindoni and Alberto Tegoni. Matteo Marchetti will serve as the fourth official. And video assistance will be handled by Marco Di Bello and Aleandro Di Paolo.

Yellow cards –

With Mr. Mariani in charge, we can expect yellow cards to come out fairly quickly during the match. Indeed, while the French average per match is 3.53 (standard deviation of 0.39), the referee for this quarter-final has handed out an average of 4.06 yellow cards per match across his entire Champions League career (figures from Transfermarkt). Let’s hope this comes without forgetting dialogue and in favor of a match without tension, as the stakes already bring enough of that.

Straight red cards –

The referee for this quarter-final is much less strict when it comes to straight red cards. Indeed, Mariani averages 0.12 send-offs per match in his career, while the French average per game is 0.17 (standard deviation of 0.07). This supports the idea of a certain degree of game management rather than handing out punishment indiscriminately.

Second yellow cards –

Maurizio Mariani is not in the habit of sending off a player after their first yellow card in a match, since he has given a second booking to the same player an average of 0.06 times per match. That is lower than the French average, which stands at 0.09 (standard deviation of 0.03). With plenty of yellow cards at first, this reinforces the idea of using warnings to calm tempers and making a sending-off harder to reach.

Penalties –

When it comes to penalties, the man who will officiate this quarter-final is above average, with 0.41 penalties awarded per match, while the Ligue 1 average is 0.34 (standard deviation of 0.08).

History –

Mariani has refereed PSG twice: a 3-1 win against Aston Villa in the first leg of the 2024-2025 quarter-finals and a 1-2 defeat against Bayern Munich in the 2025-2026 league phase (with the red card, after VAR, for Luis Diaz).

Liverpool once: a 3-2 win against Atlético Madrid in the 2025-2026 league phase.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇫🇷 here.