Not taking sides here, but I view the AARs in a similar way to linesmen in the old system in big tournaments, before the advent of FIFA ARs. They were also referees and were somewhat reluctant to be involved too much in making decisions that they view as the responsibility of the CR. They don't want to appear to be taking over too much, as it reflects poorly on the CR (or so their thinking goes). So we will see some of them making a big decision, but others will be reluctant. PH
This is how I saw it too. I don't think Tevez intentionally acted to make contact, but he intentionally chose not to act. Red card for me. If not for VC, it's certainly SFP.
Carlos Velasco Carballo with his regular AR's (Roberto Alonso Fernandez and Juan Carlos Yuste Jimenez) were initially appointed on Primera Division on Sunday (Real Betis - Malaga). They were replaced by Antonio Mateu Lahoz. RFEF confirmed the change since Carballo has "international duty" next week. So he must have been appointed for MU - Bayern Munchen.
Tuesday appointments Manchester United - Bayern Munchen: CARBALLO (ESP) Barcelona - Atletico Madrid: BRYCH (GER)
I just noticed this now but Mike Mullarkey is Clattenburg's 4O. Is it common practice for UEFA to use typical ARs as 4Os?
Yes. Except for the finals the 4ths are almost exclusively ARs now. Six officials: 3 refs and 3 ARs. On the final you have a reserve assistant. So it's 4 refs and 3 ARs.
Yes. AAR1 does. AAR1 is always a pretty high-rated official. For Clattenburg today, it's Oliver. For Webb, it's often been Clattenburg.
The only Elite referees who haven't done knockout UCL matches are Kralovec, Atkinson, Fernandez Borbalan, Stark, Tagliavento, Benquerenca, Thomson, Skomina, and Cakir. Kralovec, Atkinson, Fernandez Borbalan, Stark, Tagliavento, and Benquerenca will probably not get any. The situation is very interesting for Thomson, Skomina, and Cakir. It would be strange for these three not to get any knockout UCL matches. But if they are to get any, they should get one in the quarterfinal return leg. (It would be very strange for someone to suddenly pop up in the semifinal or final without having R16 or R8.) Remember that guys like Brych, Velasco Carballo, and Clattenburg have already had two knockout matches. For Thomson's case, it could well be partly because of the huge errors in last year's Dortmund - Malaga quarterfinal. Cakir might be on Atletico - Barcelona next week, while Skomina can do pretty much any match next week.
Yes, but all(?) have done Europa League. And the last stage had some pretty big games so the wealth needs to be spread around. So I don't think this should be interpreted as completely negative for all mentioned. Agreed with this, though Stark might have an outside shot given his past pedigree and that this is his retirement year. Agreed. It certainly hasn't happened in the past several years and I don't think there's precedent for someone getting one of the final five matches without already having a knockout match. There is precedent for people getting a final five match without having a R16, though. My guess is you will see Cakir in Madrid and Skomina in London. I'm not sure about Thomson. I wouldn't say that last year's performance plays a direct role. But I would say it appears that Collum seems to be passing him in Europe, so it might be overall performances. Regardless, like you, I'm not sure we'll see Thomson in the UCL. We're at the point where there have to be only a couple possibilities for the Finals, but with a few referees locked in firmly to the semifinals. If we knew who those referees were for the semis (Webb is probably one, Rizzoli, Proenca or Kassai might be others) it would be pretty easy to fill in the second leg QF matches. Alas, we don't know that! I still think we'll see Moen, though, so he's probably a second leg QF. And Eriksson and Kuipers will be seen again (one of them QF/Final, the other SF, I'd bet).
By the way, I've never really gotten a chance to watch Mazic before, other than highlights of major incidents. So I never really knew what people saw in him and why he's had such a meteoric rise. I've seen it so far today, though. He is so calm and cool. Incredibly level-headed and deliberate. And his decisions seem spot-on. He reminds me of De Bleeckere. I really like him from what I've seen so far in Paris.
He had a really good game. First time I've seen him do a full game and he was spot on. His card presentation is kind of weird, but that's just a preference thing. I think he might have a decent shot at getting the Final.
Today's Europa League: AZ - Benfica: MOEN (NOR) Lyon - Juventus: COLLUM (SCO) Basel - Valencia: ATKINSON (ENG) Porto - Sevilla: STARK (GER)
That kills of Moen for next week (which I should have looked at before I made my post above). So Skomina and Cakir seem as close to certain as you can make them (unless Skomina is really in the doghouse, which I doubt). That leaves two games. Probably comes from Proenca, Kuipers and Eriksson. If it's Eriksson and Kuipers, that might be the duel for the Final.
What about the Europa League final? Rizzoli, Velasco Carballo, Stark, and Kuipers are out because they've done it before. Might be a good year to give it to Webb, with no English teams left? Other candidates are Kassai, Skomina, Brych, Proenca, Lannoy, Moen, Eriksson, Mazic, and Cakir. Don't know if any of these can be ruled out for particular reasons.
Anybody see the red card that Stark gave in the 87th minute of the Porto vs. Sevilla game? I can't find any highlights of it, but you can see the entire incident on espn3.com It's really interesting and it's the first time I think I've ever seen this happen. Fernando commits a tactical/reckless foul near the halfway line on a Sevilla player and Stark plays advantage and the ball ends going up all the way near the 18. Fernando commits a careless foul/tug on a Sevilla player near the 18 and Stark blows for the foul. Fernando kicks the ball away a mile and Stark cautions him and he also cautions him as well for the foul he played advantage on. So he sends him off. Stark makes it very clear after he sends off Fernando that the first caution was for the foul at the halfway line and the second was for kicking the ball away. We've always talked about what would happen if a player commits a second another cautionable offense after committing one on an advantage signal and I think this is what happened.
From what I saw yesterday, I'd say Mazic is a strong candidate. But yes, all the others you've listed should be available as well. You can probably add Clattenburg if Webb is due a UCL semifinal.
http://www.footytube.com/video/fc-porto-sevilla-apr03-265445?ref=hp_latestvideos The relevant part starts around 2:00
And we should keep in mind that it is possible for one referee to do both a UCL semifinal (and quarterfinal) and the EL final, since Kuipers did it last year. Maybe Webb or Mazic will get it this year.
Cakir, Kassai and Webb all appointed for Saturday matches in their leagues while Eriksson, Proenca and Lannoy all refereed Friday matches (today). Rizzoli and Skomina have not been appointed for any matches this weekend. Kuipers has a Sunday match in the dutch league. Kuipers seems unlikely for CL with his local Sunday appointment. Does UEFA have any regulations they follow in regard to minimum rest required for referees from domestic appointments prior to CL late stage matches?
48h time limit before the next match. Tuesday appointments Chelsea - Paris SG: PROENCA (POR) BVB - Real: SKOMINA (SVN)
Wednesday appointments Atletico - Barcelona: WEBB (ENG) Bayern Munchen - Manchester United: ERIKSSON (SWE) So Kuipers seems to be ahead of Eriksson for a spot at the CL final. Except Kuipers is reserved for the semis and we might have a surprise name.
Or maybe Eriksson gets R16, QF, and Final? Here he again gets a huge match. Huge match also for Webb. Cakir has completely disappeared from the UCL knockout round this year.