Slavko Vincic: Controversial referee appointment by UEFA for Chelsea-Barça

FC Barcelona visits Chelsea this Tuesday, November 25 (9:00 PM CEST) for matchday 5 of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League, and will do so under the refereeing of Slavko Vincic. The Slovenian was appointed by UEFA along with German Christian Dingert (VAR) to officiate the fifteenth encounter between the Catalans and the 'Blues' in the tournament.

This season, Vincic has refereed two matches in the league stage, both involving Spanish teams. The Slovenian was the main official for Atlético's thrashing of Eintracht (5-1) and for Real Madrid's narrow victory against Juventus (1-0). In both matches, he only issued three yellow cards and awarded one penalty in favor of the 'colchonero' side.

Previously, the 45-year-old referee, an international since 2010, officiated Barça on a couple of occasions, with mixed luck for the Catalans. Chelsea, for their part, have played three times with the Slovenian as the main official, with a full slate of victories for the English.

Barça's bad memory in the Champions League with Slavko Vincic

Lewandowski and Çalhanoğlu in the duel between Barça and Inter Milan in the 2022-23 Champions League

The first time Barcelona played a match refereed by Slavko Vincic was on matchday 3 of the group stage of the 22/23 season. In the defeat against Inter Milan (1-0), the referee from Maribor failed to send off Hakan Çalhanoglu for a nasty tackle on Sergio Busquets and also made two other controversial decisions against the Catalan side.

First, he disallowed a goal by Pedri for a previous handball by Ansu Fati. Then, in stoppage time, he overlooked a clear handball by Denzel Dumfries inside the box after a shot by Ansu himself. That defeat, added to the draw at Camp Nou on matchday 4, sealed Barça's early elimination from the tournament.

In 244/25, Vincic also refereed the match at Montjuïc against Bayern Munich, which ended with a 4-1 victory for the Catalans. A hat-trick from Raphinha and another goal from Robert Lewandowski defeated the Bavarian team in a match without controversy. 

Chelsea, for their part, have not played a Champions League match refereed by Slavko Vincic since the quarter-finals of the 20/21 season (a 0-2 victory against Porto). This year, the Slovenian officiated the English team, but in the Club World Cup against Benfica (a 1-4 thrashing after extra time).

Barça seeks second victory at Stamford Bridge

For Barcelona, the visit to Stamford Bridge will be their 8th in the Champions League to a stadium where they have only managed to win once. It was in the first leg of the 2005/06 round of 16 (1-2), with goals from John Terry (own goal) and Samuel Eto'o.

On their last visit to London, the 'culés' salvaged a 1-1 draw in the first leg of the round of 16 in 17/18. Leo Messi scored the goal for the Catalan side, which would advance to the quarterfinals with a 4-1 aggregate. In total, the Catalans have 1 win, 2 draws, and 4 losses on 'blue' turf.

This season, Hansi Flick's team started with a win in Newcastle (1-2), but then lost to PSG in Montjuïc (1-2). After the thrashing of Olympiacos at home (6-1), the team faltered again in Bruges (3-3). Therefore, Barça needs to win on Tuesday to get closer to the TOP-8 that gives direct access to the round of 16. Chelsea, for now, has the same number of points as their rival (7).

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