Kuipers to referee Barcelona’s first leg against Liverpool
Dutch referee Bjorn Kuipers has been appointed to take charge of Barcelona‘s Champions League semi-final first leg against Liverpool at the Camp Nou on Wednesday night.
The 46-year-old is one of UEFA‘s most respected officials, having refereed the 2014 Champions League final between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, as well as the 2018 Europa League final between Atletico and Marseille.
Neither Barcelona nor Liverpool have suffered defeat with Kuipers as referee, though the Blaugrana‘s 0-0 draw with Juventus in the Champions League quarter-finals in 2017 saw the Catalans eliminated after their 3-0 first-leg defeat.
The first time he took charge of a Barcelona match was in the 2009/10 group stages of the Champions League as the Blaugrana ran out 2-0 victors over Dynamo Kiev, while that same season he oversaw Barcelona‘s 1-1 draw away to Stuttgart in the first leg of their round of 16 tie.
In the quarter-finals of the 2011/12 Champions League, Barcelona won 3-1 against AC Milan in the second leg. One season later, Kuipers was the official as the Blaugrana drew 1-1 at home to Paris Saint-Germain at the same stage of the competition. In 2015/16, the Dutchman was in charge for Barcelona‘s 1-1 draw away at Roma in the group stages.
Kuipers has overseen four Liverpool matches in the Champions League. He began with a 1-0 win for the Reds against Debrecen in the 2009/10 Champions League group stages, and that same season he was appointed to referee Liverpool‘s 4-1 win over Benfica, though the Premier League side had dropped down to the Europa League at this point.
In the Europa League, he adjudicated Liverpool 3-1 win over Zenit Saint Petersburg in 2012/13, and he was in charge for the 1-1 draw between the English side and Basel in the 2014/15 Champions League group stages. Most recently, Kuipers was the referee as Liverpool beat Hoffenheim 2-1 in Germany in the 2017/18 Champions League.
At the Camp Nou on Wednesday night, Kuipers will be assisted by his compatriots Mario Diks and Erwin Zeinstra. The man in charge of the VAR room will be Danny Makkelie, with his assistant being Pol van Boekel, and the fourth official on the pitch will be the Greek referee Tasos Sidiropoulos.