Arsenal fans will love UEFA's officials announcement for PSG Champions League clash

Arsenal fans will love the referee UEFA have appointed for their Champions League semi-final first leg with Paris Saint-Germain. The Gunners are now counting down the hours until Tuesday night’s huge first leg at the Emirates Stadium.

Mikel Arteta’s men have had extra time to prepare for this one having sat out the weekend, playing on Wednesday night due to Crystal Palace’s participation in the FA Cup semi-finals on Saturday. PSG were in action on Friday night, and it proved to be a disappointing evening for them, losing at home to OGC Nice at Parc des Princes.

That defeat was PSG’s first of the season in Ligue 1, and while they are already champions, they have now lost the chance to complete an invincible season. Speaking after the game, PSG boss Luis Enrique said: “First of all, I'd like to congratulate Nice. I think they were 100% effective. They came close once in the first half, then had two chances in the second half with a high level of effectiveness. Fair? No, but that's football, you have to accept it. Congratulations again.

“But I also congratulate my team. In the first half, we largely deserved the result. And in the second half, we conceded a goal in the first moment of the match. Our goal was to break a couple more records. It doesn't change our objective of continuing in the Champions League and trying to reach the final.”

Asked on the impact of the defeat, he added: “Right now, the players are clearly hurt. I have no doubt we deserved to win the game. But if an opponent is at 100% effective and you're not at your best, the game changes and becomes more complicated. Their goalkeeper was exceptional. There's not much to say. Football doesn't care about having chances, it cares about goals scored.”

Referee appointed for Arsenal vs PSG

UEFA have made an interesting move as far as the refereeing appointment for the Champions League semi-final first leg between Arsenal and PSG. UEFA have appointed Slovenian referee Slavko Vincic for this one, and Vincic was also in charge for Arsenal’s group phase clash with PSG earlier this season.

That was a game Arsenal won 2-1, which will be seen as a good omen, but it’s not all good news for the Gunners. Vincic has also refereed an Arsenal European semi-final before, the second leg of the Europa League semi-final with Villarreal in 2021.

The Gunners lost the first leg and drew 0-0 at the Emirates Stadium, with the Yellow Submarine advancing to the final, where they eventually won their first major trophy by defeating Manchester United on penalties. It’s worth noting that Arsenal are unbeaten with Vincic in charge, and there were no controversial incidents in that second leg with Villarreal, with Arsenal notably hitting the post but largely struggling to penetrate Unai Emery’s back-line on that occasion.

As for PSG, they have also played with Vincic in charge twice, once in that Arsenal defeat and again in a 3-0 group phase win over AC Milan last season.

Tomaz Klancnik and Andraz Kovacic will be the line officials here, while Matej Jug will be the fourth official.