On Wednesday, September 31, as part of Matchday 2 of the group stage of the 2025-2026 Champions League, Paris Saint-Germain (2nd) will face FC Barcelona (12th) at the Montjuïc Stadium (kick-off at 9 pm, CET). The referee for the match has been selected: Michael Oliver (40 years old). He has considerable experience in the Champions League, having refereed 40 matches.
He will be assisted by Stuart Burt and James Mainwaring. Andrew Madley will serve as the fourth official. Video Assistant Referee duties will be performed by Jarred Gillet and Bastian Dankert.
Yellow cards –
With Mr. Oliver in charge, we can expect to see yellow cards being shown quite frequently during the match. Indeed, while the French average is 3.53 yellow cards per match (standard deviation of 0.39), the referee for Wednesday’s match has shown an average of 4.48 yellow cards per match throughout his Champions League career (Transfermarkt statistics). This is high, but hopefully he will maintain good communication with the players and contribute to a fair and non-confrontational match.
Direct red cards –
The referee for this match is much less likely to show direct red cards. Oliver has an average of 0.05 red cards per match in his career, while the French average is 0.17 (standard deviation of 0.07). Clearly, he is not prone to handing out harsh punishments.
Second yellow cards –
Michael Oliver is more likely to send off a player after their first yellow card in a match, as he has shown a second yellow card to the same player 0.13 times per match on average. This is higher than the French average, which is 0.09 (standard deviation of 0.03). With a lot of yellow cards shown early on, this reinforces the idea of using warnings to calm tempers. But without being afraid to issue a red card if necessary.
Penalties –
Regarding penalties, the referee for this match has a lower average than the league average, with 0.30 penalties awarded per match, while the Ligue 1 average is 0.34 (standard deviation of 0.08).
History –
Oliver has refereed PSG five times: 1-1 against Benfica in the 2022/2023 group stage, 0-1 defeat against Bayern Munich in the 2022/2023 round of 16, 1-2 win against Real Sociedad in the 2023/2024 round of 16, 0-3 win against RB Salzburg in the 2024/2025 group stage, and a 7-0 win against Brest in the 2024/2025 playoffs.
He has refereed Barcelona four times: 0-0 against Slavia Prague in the 2019/2020 group stage, 2-1 win against Dynamo Kyiv in the 2020/2021 group stage, 0-3 defeat against Bayern Munich in the 2021/2022 group stage, and a 2-2 draw against Atalanta in the 2024/2025 group stage.
