The experienced Clement Turpin has been named referee for tonight’s Champions League encounter between Aston Villa and Celtic…
Brendan Rodgers and his Celtic side travel south for their final Champions League phase outing in the new elongated 36-team format. Safe in the knowledge that knockout playoffs are secured, Celtic will be aiming to climb the table in order to be seeded and for Friday’s draw.
Meanwhile, a victory for Unai Emery’s Aston Villa over the Scottish Champions would see the English Premier League side most likely finish in the top eight places and gain direct entry to the last 16.
For the match, 42 year-old whistler Clement Turpin alongside a team of French match officials will take charge of this highly-anticipated fixture.
Turpin, who refereed Scotland’s disastrous opening game at EURO 2024 against Germany in Munich has never refereed Celtic in his career since becoming a FIFA listed official in 2010.
The Frenchman was an additional assistant referee for Celtic’s dramatic last minute 3-2 victory versus Spartak Moscow in Russia back in 2012. Since then, the Hoops have only won once away from home in Europe’s top tier club competition in 12 years.
Despite not refereeing Celtic before, Turpin has been the man in the middle for games involving Hibs, Motherwell and theRangers. Joining Turpin on-field will be AR1 Nicolas Danos and AR2 Benjamin Pages. Romain Lissorgue has been named fourth official. Manning VAR duties is French referee Jerome Brisard and taking up the role as AVAR is Dutch official, Rob Dieperink.
Aston Villa v Celtic – UEFA Champions League – Match Officials
Referee: Clement Turpin (FRA)
Assistant referees: Nicolas Danos (FRA) & Benjamin Pages (FRA)
Fourth official: Romain Lissorgue (FRA)
VAR: Jerome Brisard (FRA)
AVAR: Rob Dieperink (NED)
Conor Spence
Jota spoke to The Celtic Star and a few other Celtic fan media sites earlier this week at Celtic Park. Conor Spence from The Celtic Star asked the first three questions…
