Celtic v Braga referee: Ref who officiated memorable Europa League night confirmed plus VAR details
This is who UEFA have appointed as the match officials or Celtic’s Europa League clash with Braga on Thursday.
Celtic will look to pick up their first three points of their Europa League campaign when they welcome Braga to Celtic Park on Thursday (kick-off: 5.45pm).
After picking up a valuable point with a 1-1 draw against Crvena zvezda in last week’s opening game of the competition, Brendan Rodgers’ side hopes to move up the Europa League table with a victory against the Portuguese outfit, who enter the game out of form.
Following Saturday’s 0-0 stalemate with Hibs in the Scottish Premiership, Celtic are expected to welcome back Kieran Tierney, Benjamin Nygren, and Colby Donovan to the starting XI, while Auston Trusty is back in contention to be involved in the squad after a troublesome foot injury.
Their visitors, Braga, were victorious in their opening game last week, beating Feyenoord 1-0, but enter the game in crisis mode after a 1-0 defeat to Nacional saw fans call for the dismissal of manager Carlos Vicens after slumping to their fifth league game without a victory - their worst run in five years.
Ahead of the game, The Scotsman looks at who UEFA has appointed as the match officials at Celtic Park:
Who is Celtic vs Braga referee?
The official taking charge of Celtic’s Europa League clash is German referee Tobias Stieler. A UEFA official since 2014, he has refereed in the Bundesliga since 2012, and was promoted to the UEFA Elite category of referee in 2000.
The 44-year-old has taken charge of four games this season across the Bundesliga 2, Bundesliga and the Nations League, issuing a total of 11 yellow cards (2.75 per game on average) and one red card (0.25 per game average). He has awarded an average of 21.75 fouls per game and given an average of one penalty per game.
Perhaps more interestingly, he was the referee who officiated Scotland’s Nations League play-off first leg with Greece in March, which Steve Clarke’s side won 1-0. During the game, he gave out just two yellow cards and awarded a penalty to Scotland after a VAR review, which Scott McTominay dispatched for the winning goal.
It is Stieler’s third time taking charge of a Celtic game, and fans of a superstitious persuasion will be happy to know he was the official who took charge of the memorable 2-1 victory over Lazio in the Europa League group stage back in 2019. Famously remembered for a 95th-minute Olivier Ntcham winner, which secured their passage to the last 32 of the competition.
Celtic vs Braga - Who are the VAR and match officials?
Stieler will be assisted fellow countrymen Lasse Koslowski and Mark Borsch, with Timo Gerach appointed as the fourth official. On VAR duties it will be Italian official Christian Dingert, and he will be assisted Dutch official Pol van Boekel.
The UEFA Referee Observer will be Cypriot Michaíl Argyroú, with the UEFA Delegate on the evening being Belgian official Stijn Hutsebaut.
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