The Englishman Anthony Taylor will referee this Wednesday evening the quarter-final of the Champions League between Paris Saint-Germain and FC Barcelona.
UEFA announced on Monday April 8 the name of the referee who will officiate for the match of Champions League between Paris Saint-Germain and FC Barcelona, for the quarter-finals of the competition. And we can say that he is a referee who knows both teams well since the organizing body of European football has delegated arbitration to Anthony Taylorwho was already on the whistle during the return match between the Parisians and Barça in 2021. At the time, the match ended with a score of one goal everywhere and the qualification of Kilian’s teammates Mbappé.
A regular at the final stages
The 45-year-old English referee is not in his first final phase of international competition. He has been playing in the Premier League since 2010 and has played more than 250 matches in the English championship. He was also on the whistle for 26 Champions League matches and refereed the European Super Cup final in 2020. Last weekend, Anthony Taylor refereed the Premier League clash between Manchester United and Liverpool.
A good omen for PSG?
Can Parisians see a sign in the appointment of Anthony Taylor? In any case the men of Luis Enrique have never lost when the Englishman was in charge, with five wins and one draw. He notably refereed the Parisian 3-0 victory against Real Madrid in the group stage during the 2019-2020 season and the victory against Atalanta Bergamo in the quarter-final second leg the same season.
On the contrary, FC Barcelona have won only one of their four matches refereed by Anthony Taylor, who was on the whistle during the 3-0 defeat against Bayern Munich in 2022.
A fan of the yellow card
If Anthony Taylor is used to excluding players, he does however distribute yellow cards in the Champions League. In fact, he penalizes on average just over five players per match in European competition. We will therefore have to be careful with Milan Skriniar, Manuel Ugarte and Lucas Hernandez, all under suspension in the event of a warning this Wednesday evening. On the FC Barcelona side, there are eight players to be suspended: Ronald Araujo, Andreas Christensen, Sergi Roberto, Frenkie De Jong, Robert Lewandowski, Lamine Yamal, Ferran Torres and João Félix.