Matchday two of the Champions League will place Roma v Real Madrid and Betis v Porto under French refereeing teams on Wednesday, with François Letexier appointed in Rome and Clément Turpin taking charge in Seville.
What the night decided
Letexier, 37, will referee Roma’s meeting with Real Madrid at the Stadio Olimpico. An international official since 2017, he will be assisted by Cyril Mugnier and Mehdi Rahmouni, while Bastien Dechepy has been named fourth official. Dennis Higler and Pol van Boekel, both from the Netherlands, will operate VAR.
It will be Letexier’s seventh Real Madrid fixture. Madrid’s previous six games under the Frenchman produced three wins, one draw and two defeats.
- Wins: 2-0 against Chelsea, 4-2 against Napoli and 1-0 against Benfica.
- Draw: 3-3 against Manchester City.
- Defeats: 2-0 against Liverpool and 2-1 against Arsenal.
Roma will encounter Letexier for the fifth time. The Italian side beat Brighton 4-0 and Porto 3-2 in their earlier matches with him in charge, but lost 2-0 to Slavia Prague and Bayer Leverkusen.
The referee was also involved in a prominent incident earlier this season during Benfica v Real Madrid. After scoring Madrid’s opening goal in Lisbon, Vinicius asked for the anti-racism protocol to be activated, alleging that Benfica player Prestianni had insulted him.
Betis and Porto receive Turpin appointment
Turpin, 44, has been selected for Betis v Porto at La Cartuja. Nicolas Danos and Benjamin Pages will run the touchlines, Jeremie Pignard will serve as fourth official, and Willy Delajod and Mathieu Vernice have been assigned to video duties.
The Frenchman, an international referee since 2020, has previously overseen Betis only once: their 1-1 away draw against Poland’s Jagiellonia in the Conference League quarter-final second leg.
Video appointments elsewhere
Spanish officials César Soto and Carlos del Cerro will be the VAR team for Feyenoord v Como.
