Match #49 Italy : Spain Tuesday, 6 July 2021 20:00 local time (15:00 EDT) London Referee: Felix Brych (GER) AR1: Mark Borsch (GER) AR2: Stefan Lupp (GER) Fourth Official: Sergei Karasev (RUS) Video Assistant Referee: Marco Fritz (GER) AVAR 1: Christian Dingert (GER) AVAR 2: Christian Gittelmann (GER) AVAR 3: Bastian Dankert (GER)
Almost a clean sweep for Germany! Not having kept close records, is this the most from one country on a match so far? PH
Anyone care to assess for us layfolk what the odds of a major controversy over officiating (or outright sh!tsh0w) became as opposed to what we could've expected if another CR had been appointed, someone more highly recommended by the Assembled Wisdom of BigSoccer? From, perhaps, 1-in-5 (it's Italy vs Spain after all) to, perhaps 1-in-3?! 50-50?!
He will do a good job as usual, (I hope). Despite the surprise at the number of games he has been appointed to, he is a very experienced and competent referee, and should get the respect of both teams, players and coaches. PH
i'm pretty certain the Italians are not happy with this appointment of Brych. He's been anti Serie A for years in the champions league.
Let’s take a quick look, shall we? Europa League 2021 ROMA 3 Man U 2. The only Serie A club he refereed this past year. CL 19/20 Napoli 2 Liverpool 0 Napoli 1 Barcelona 1 (Vidal of Barca 2ct) CL 18/19 Valencia 0 Juventus 2 (Ronaldo red card, 2 penalties for Juve) You have to go back to 17/18 for the first loss for a Serie A club with Brych in the middle. Kind of a thin premise, don’t you think?
Which could be why Italy did not veto the selection. Maybe Spain had more reason, or even England going by these results! PH
I don't think I've ever seen the referees wear the UEFA "Respect" band that the captains for the teams usually wear on their arms. Has anyone seen it before?
I think it's keeping his receivers in place. Some referees have a natural tendency for the sleeve not to come down and the receiver consequently shows. Looks like Brych grabbed a UEFA armband so it would look "better"(?). Whether he did it himself or someone told him to do it is anyone's guess. The tackle that ended that frantic moment at 21' didn't look pretty, but I tend to think the first yellow of this match is going to be crystal clear and that wasn't it.
Taylor Twellman cannot recognize a foul. It’s amazing. I don’t know why he always ignores the obvious.
Admittedly, the game's on my phone while I'm in the office, but that Spain foul in the 44th minute would have been a good place to get a SPA caution. The Italians were at speed on the attack in the Spain half. Brych's doing a good job of managing the game with his personality, but I think that would have been the right place to use a card immediately before half.
That half went exactly how Brych wanted it to go and how anyone paying attention would expect it to go. The only big questions are if Brych can find a "clean" first yellow that simultaneously doesn't open the floodgates but isn't totally inconsistent with the high line he has already established. And then whether or not he can avoid that one big controversial moment that feels inevitable to me if this stays tight for 90-120 minutes.
But most/all of the previous warnings were to the Italians. Brych probably missed a "mandatory" yellow at 35', in fact. So for that to be the first yellow, with 1 minute left in the half of a 0-0 game? Nope. It's against the wrong team.
He's trying to get a no YC match just like last time. As you say, it will take something really good for him to pull the card. PH
I'm not sure I'd go that far. Brych isn't the type who conciously avoids cards, as his record in UEFA competitions shows. But I think he knows this game could have 8-9 yellow cards if it has 1 or 2 early, so he's making sure that first one truly is worth it. It's effectively the same thing in the first half. But the difference is I don't think he ignores a "clear" card in the 65' or 70' because at that point it will be useful to him if he does it right. That 44' foul would not have been a useful card and probably would have been counterproductive.
The score is certainly helping. Brych knows as soon as someone scores the real shithousery is gonna come out. And he’s saving his cards for that.
The best possible scenario for Brych is for a goal in stoppage time. Limits the housery time, and keeps the teams focused on actually playing instead of all of the extracurricular activity. Neither team will want to risk something dumb with the score at 0-0.