The officials have been confirmed for Chelsea’s Champions League clash against Dinamo Zagreb at Stadion Maksimir on Tuesday evening.
Chelsea begin their 2022/23 Champions League campaign with a trip to Croatia to face Zagreb in Group E after being handed them, AC Milan and FC Salzburg in the Group Stage draw.
Thomas Tuchel's side are hoping to go better than their quarter-final run in the Champions League which saw their defending of the trophy come to an end at the Bernabeu to eventual winners Real Madrid.
Now the officials for the European meeting have been revealed by UEFA ahead of the encounter.
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Referee
UEFA confirmed that István Kovács (ROU) will take charge of the meeting as the 2022/23 campaign gets underway.
Assistants
István Kovács will be supported by Vasile Florin Marinescu ROU) and Ovidiu Artene (ROU) on the touchline.
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Fourth Official
Andrei Chivulete (ROU) has been named as the Fourth Official for Tuesday's match, with the referee overseeing conduct within the two dugouts, and the behaviour of managers Ante Čačić and Thomas Tuchel.
VAR/Assistant VAR
Overviewing proceedings on VAR will be Paolo Valeri (ITA), who has been named as the Video Assistant Referee, with the Assistant Video Assistant Referee being Ovidiu Haţegan (ROU).
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What has been said ahead of the game?
Tuchel will have Denis Zakaria and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang available for selection, both are in contention to make their debuts, as the Chelsea head coach called for the side to show trust, belief and fight against a 'winning' Zagreb side.
The 48-year-old said: “They are used to winning, it’s a winning team. They are used to be on the top. That shapes a certain mentality. They made it through the qualification which is never easy. They deserve to be here and I’m pretty sure they will plan to play a very technical, emotional game against us. They have individual quality like always, like every team of Dinamo Zagreb and any Croatian team. A lot of individual quality.
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"Upfront they have speed and dribbling, on the wings. They will use the role as an underdog to over-perform and make us underperform. This will be their plan. We are aware of that. We are ourselves in a moment where we need to improve, we are not fully happy with the results, with our performances. We need to take the next step. It’s Champions League, very exciting.
"We are very aware what the challenge is to play in a first match away in a group stage. It’s difficult. It can end up in complicated situations but I think it’s very important that we accept it and play a humble match, don’t get stuck in our own expectations.
"We will accept the fight and the challenge and then we can also have the belief and trust we are able to win. We need to perform for sure.”
Topics: Chelsea, Champions League
Matthew Debono