The German duel will be whistled by an Englishman. Michael Oliver will referee the CL first leg between FC Bayern and Bayer Leverkusen. He has recently been criticized in his home country.
It’s not exactly to be expected that the German duel will be squeamish. Too much is at stake for Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen. Michael Oliver has recently had more to do with explosive situations than he would have liked. But he didn’t always make a sovereign impression.
See last Saturday, when the 40-year-old was last in the spotlight. Oliver first had to consult the video images to recognize the nasty Kung Fu kick against former Mainz player Jean-Philippe Mateta in the FA Cup game between Crystal Palace and Millwall (3-1). Only then did he send Millwall keeper Liam Roberts off with a red card, which, among others, left Palace boss Steve Parish with a less than confident impression. It was “frightening” that Oliver had to rely on the VAR, he said on the BBC: “Why the referee had to look at the screen, I don’t know.”
Just two weeks earlier, Oliver had had his hands full in the Merseyside derby between Liverpool and Everton (2:2). He showed two players yellow-red after a scrum after the final whistle, and Reds coach Arne Slot and his assistant even red. Slot was suspended for two games.
Bayern have never lost under Oliver
However, Bayern have had good experiences with Oliver; they have never lost a game under the Englishman’s direction. Among the four wins with Oliver was the 1-0 first knockout round match in 2023 at Paris Saint-Germain. The only game they didn’t win was against RB Salzburg (1-1) in February 2022.
Although Leverkusen have also emerged victorious in three of four games when Oliver has refereed Werkself, the last game is not a happy memory for Bayer. In the Europa League semi-final first leg in May 2023, AS Roma held firm at home to record a 1-0 win – and then put an end to the Rhinelanders’ dreams of reaching the final in the second leg.
A German referee will also be in action in the last sixteen. Felix Zwayer (Munich) will lead the encounter between Benfica Lisbon and FC Barcelona with coach Hansi Flick on Wednesday, at the same time as the German duel.
