UEFA has appointed Romanian referee István Kovács to officiate the upcoming match between Barcelona and Atlético Madrid in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals.
Atlético Madrid fans have bad memories of the Romanian referee from last summer, when he officiated the Spanish side’s match against Paris Saint-Germain, which saw Enrique’s team win 4-0 in the 2025 Club World Cup.
On that occasion, Kovács came under fire from the fans, as well as from Rojiblancos manager Diego Simeone and team captain Koke.
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The players had protested against what they considered the referee’s failure to send off Nuno Mendes in the first half, after he brought down Giuliano Simeone as he was through on goal, and then the sending-off of Lenglet in the second half, according to the newspaper El Desmarque, which said the Romanian referee had fuelled the controversy by disallowing a goal by Giuliano Alvarez (57'), following a VAR review that alerted the referee to a previous foul in the build-up to the goal against Koke.
Furthermore, Atlético Madrid’s record under István Kovács offers little cause for optimism for Real Madrid fans; the Romanian referee has officiated five of their matches, none of which they have won: four defeats and one draw.
