On Wednesday August 13, Paris Saint-Germain will take on Tottenham at Bluenergy Stadium in Udine for the European Supercup 2025 (kick-off 9pm, broadcast on Canal+). The referee for the match is João Pinheiro (37). He has some interesting experience in the league (177 games in the Portuguese top flight), without being a veteran of the Champions League, with 7 games to his name.
Yellow cards –
With Mr Pinheiro at 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), the match referee has given an average of 4.62 yellows per game throughout his career in Liga Portugal (Transfermarkt figures). That’s a very high number, but let’s hope it’s not one that forgets dialogue and favors a match free of tension and bad moves.
Direct red cards –
The man behind the European Supercup whistle is far less severe when it comes to direct red cards. Pinheiro’s career total is 0.09 exclusions per match, compared with the French average of 0.17 (standard deviation 0.07). This goes in the direction of a certain degree of management, rather than all-out punishment.
Second yellow cards –
João Pinheiro is not in the habit of sending off a player after his first yellow card in a match, as he issued a second caution to the same player an average of 0.10 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 reinforces the idea of a warning to calm tempers. Not forgetting to crack down if need be.
Penalties –
As far as penalties are concerned, the man who will lead the European Supercup is higher than the French average with 0.37 penalties whistled per match, whereas in Ligue 1 the average is 0.34 (standard deviation of 0.08).
History –
Pinheiro has never crossed paths with PSG or Tottenham.
