On Saturday May 31, in the final of the Champions League 2024-2045, Paris Saint-Germain will face Inter Milan at the Allianz Arena (kick-off 9pm, CET). The referee for the match has been chosen: Istvan Kovacs (40). Although not a great veteran of the Champions League, Kovacs has a wealth of experience, with 29 matches to his name.
The man with the whistle will be assisted by Mihai Marica and Ferencz Tunyogi and François Boudikian. The 4th referee will be Joao Pedro Silva Pinheiro. Video assistance will be provided by Dennis Johan Higler, Catalin Sorin Popa and Paulus van Boekel.
Yellow cards –
With Mr. Kovacs at the whistle, we can expect yellow cards to come out very quickly during the match. Indeed, while the French average per match is 3.53 (standard deviation 0.39), the referee of the final has given an average of 4.85 yellows per match in his entire Champions League career (Transfermarkt figures). That’s a very high figure, but let’s hope it’s not one that forgets dialogue and favours a tension-free match.
Direct red cards –
The man who blew the whistle in the final was far less severe when it came to direct red cards. In fact, Kovacs has given out 0.10 red cards per match in his career, whereas the French average per match is 0.17 (standard deviation 0.07). This goes in the direction of a certain amount of management, rather than all-out punishment.
Second yellow cards –
Istvan Kovacs is not in the habit of sending off a player after his first yellow card in a match, as he issued a second warning to the same player an average of 0.07 times per game. This is lower than the French average of 0.09 (standard deviation 0.03). With so many yellows in the first instance, this lends credence to the idea of a warning to calm tempers.
Penalties –
As far as penalties are concerned, the man who will lead the final is well above the average with 0.45 penalties whistled per match, whereas in Ligue 1 the average is 0.34 (standard deviation of 0.08).
History –
Kovacs has refereed PSG 5 times: against Galatasaray in 2019 (5-0), Newcastle in 2023 (4-1 defeat), Barcelona in 2024 (1-4 victory), Bayern Munich in 2024 (1-0 defeat) and Liverpool (0-1 victory) in the second leg of the Round of 16 in 2025.
3 times Inter Milan: against Shakthar Donetsk (0-0) in 2021, Atlético Madrid (1-0 win) in 2024.
