UEFA has appointed Romanian referee Istvan Kovacs for Real Madrid's Champions League clash with Leipzig at the Santiago Bernabeu. Poland's Tomasz Kwiatkowski will be the VAR.
First league-phase match this season
This will be Kovacs's first match in the Champions League league phase this season. According to Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo, Kovacs is 42, ranks among UEFA's elite referees and has held the international badge since 2010.
His previous Real Madrid matches
The Leipzig fixture will be Kovacs's sixth Real Madrid game in European competition. His previous five Real Madrid games in Europe produced three wins and two defeats for Real Madrid. Liverpool beat Real Madrid 1-0 at Anfield in the league phase last season, the more recent of those two defeats.
Kovacs's Real Madrid matches in Europe
Kovacs's first Real Madrid match in Europe came courtesy of Manchester City, who edged a 4-3 thriller in England during the first leg of the 2021-2022 Champions League semi-final. Real Madrid beat Liverpool 5-2 in the first leg of the 2022-2023 round of 16 under Kovacs. Real Madrid beat Borussia Dortmund 5-2 at the Bernabeu in the group stage under Kovacs. Real Madrid beat Manchester City 3-1 in the second leg of last season's knockout rounds under Kovacs.
First German side for Kovacs
This will be the first time Kovacs takes charge of a German side in Europe.