CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2025/26
Barcelona Will Have a Referee Making His Debut Against Olympiacos in the Champions League
Published New:19/10/2025 - 20:36h
Updated New:19/10/2025 - 20:36h
UEFA has appointed Swiss referee Urs Schnyder as the main referee for Tuesday's Barça-Olympiacos match in Montjuïc. Fedayi San, also Swiss, will be in charge of VAR for matchday 3 of the Champions League
FC Barcelona hosts Olympiacos in Montjuïc this Tuesday (16:45 CEST) for the third matchday of the league phase of the UEFA Champions League 2025/26. The referee Urs Schnyder, 39 years old, will be the main referee of the match, while Fedayi San will be in charge of the VAR.
The match at the Lluís Companys will have a Swiss majority in the officiating team. Marco Zürcher and Benjamin Zürcher will be the linesmen, while Lukas Fähndrich will be the fourth official. The only exception is the Croatian Ivan Bebek, who will be the assistant in the VOR room.
Urs Schnyder will referee Barça for the first time, but he has officiated in Catalonia before
Tuesday's match will be Schnyder's first time officiating a Barça game, but the Swiss referee has already led a Champions League match in Catalonia. It was on October 2, 2024, in Girona's defeat against Feyenoord in Montilivi (2-3). That day, the main referee had a very active day, as both teams committed a total of 26 fouls.
11 of them were due to a Girona side that received 6 yellow cards in that match. The Dutch team, despite committing 15 fouls, only had 3 warnings. The home side was ahead twice, but ended up losing due to an own goal by Krejcí.
The Swiss referee's other match in European competitions with Spanish teams was in the 23/24 Conference League. Schnyder was the main referee in the match between Betis and Dinamo Zagreb in Croatia, which ended in a draw (1-1).
In that regard, Barcelona will be looking to become the first Spanish team to win all 3 points in an international match officiated by Urs Schnyder. The 39-year-old referee began his career in 2015 and has been a FIFA referee since 2018.
Barça Needs to Defeat Olympiacos to Recover Ground in the Champions League
For the team led by Hansi Flick, the obligation to win is absolute on Tuesday against Olympiacos, after falling in the previous match against Paris Saint-Germain, also in Montjuïc (1-2). For now, the 'culés' occupy 16th place in the overall standings of the league with 3 points. Bayern Munich leads the table with 6 points and a goal difference of +6.
Against Olympiacos, the record in the Champions League favors Barça with one victory and one draw. The teams only met in the group stage of the 17/18 season, with a Barça victory at Camp Nou and a goalless draw in Greece (0-0). Nikolau (own goal), Leo Messi, and Lucas Digné scored the Catalan goals in the 3-1 victory.
