This Friday, as part of Matchday 22 of the 2025-2026 Ligue 1 season, Paris Saint-Germain (1st) will face Rennes (6th) at Roazhon Park (kick-off at 7 pm, CET). The referee for the match has been chosen: Benoît Bastien (42 years old). He has extensive experience in Ligue 1, having officiated 269 matches.
He will be assisted by Hicham Zakrani and Aurélien Berthomieu. The fourth official will be Jérémy Stinat. Video assistance will be provided by Wilfried Bien and Yann Flament.
Yellow cards –
With Mr. Bastien as referee, we can expect yellow cards to be handed out quickly during the match. Indeed, while the national average per match is 3.53 yellow cards (standard deviation of 0.39), Friday’s referee has averaged 3.90 yellow cards per match throughout his Ligue 1 career (Transfermarkt figures). Let’s hope this is done without neglecting dialogue, but at least the players should be protected.
Direct Red Cards –
The referee on Friday was slightly stricter with direct red cards. Bastien has an average of 0.18 red cards per match in his career, while the national average is 0.17 (standard deviation of 0.07). Therefore, there’s no question of letting bad behavior go unpunished, nor of handing out punishments indiscriminately.
Second Yellow Cards –
Benoît Bastien doesn’t typically send off a player after their first yellow card in a Ligue 1 match. The national average is 0.09 (standard deviation of 0.03), while his is 0.08. With so many yellow cards initially, it seems that cautions are more common than sending off. Perhaps the yellow cards also help prevent escalation.
Penalties –
Finally, regarding penalties, the referee on Saturday was below average with 0.33 penalties awarded per match, while the Ligue 1 average is 0.34 (standard deviation of 0.08).
