This Wednesday, in the second leg of their Champions League 2024-2025 semi-final (0-1 win in the first leg), Paris Saint-Germain take on Arsenal at the Parc des Princes (kick-off 9pm, CET). The referee for the match has been chosen: Felix Zwayer (43). He has a wealth of experience in this competition, with 36 matches to his name.
The man with the whistle will be assisted by Robert Kempter and Christian Dietz. The 4th referee will be Harm Osmers. Video assistance will be provided by Bastian Dankert and Benjamin Brand.
Yellow cards –
With Mr. Zwayer on the whistle, we can expect yellow cards to be handed out very quickly during the match. Indeed, while the French average per game is 3.53 (standard deviation 0.39), Wednesday’s referee has given an average of 5.36 yellows per game throughout his Champions League career (Transfermarkt figures). That’s very high, so let’s hope it’s to protect the players and not because of a lack of management or dialogue.
Direct red cards –
The man on the whistle on Wednesday was much less severe when it came to direct red cards. Indeed, Zwayer’s career total is 0.08 exclusions per match, compared with the French average of 0.17 (standard deviation 0.07). We can only hope that warnings will help to avoid this painful stage.
Second yellow cards –
Felix Zwayer has a habit of sending players off after their first yellow card in a match, as he issued a second caution to the same player an average of 0.16 times per match. This is well above the French average of 0.09 (standard deviation 0.03). With so many yellows to begin with, this is quite logical. But he does tend to warn before sending off.
Penalties –
As far as penalties are concerned, the man at the whistle on Wednesday is higher than average with 0.50 penalties whistled per match, while the average in Ligue 1 is 0.34 (standard deviation 0.08).
History –
PSG have already come up against Felix Zwayer twice, with very different emotions. There was the 2-2 draw with Napoli in the 2018-2019 group stage, with Angel Di Maria’s decisive goal at the end of his contract, and the 7-2 sweeping victory over Maccabi Haifa in the 2022-2023 group stage. There had been 6 and 7 yellow cards, with no reds. This confirms the trends.
De son côté, Arsenal s’est imposé 4-0 contre le PSV Eindhoven lors de la phase de groupes 2023-2024, avec 4 cartons jaunes au cours de la rencontre.
