Top Spanish referee Jesus Gil Manzano has been named referee for tomorrow night’s UEFA Champions League knockout playoff encounter between Celtic and Bayern Munich…
An eagerly awaited encounter
Brendan Rodgers’ side will take on the Bundesliga league leaders tomorrow evening before heading to Bavaria six days later for the second leg.
Both teams head into this hotly anticipated two-legged affair with supreme confidence and momentum. Following Bayern’s routine 3-0 victory over Werder Bremen on Friday night, Vincent Kompany’s men are now eight points clear of possible Champions League last 16 opponents Bayer Leverkusen at the top of the Bundesliga table.
Maeda news gives Celtic huge boost
Meanwhile, Celtic cruised to victory with a 5-0 win versus Scottish Championship opponents Raith Rovers. Daizen Maeda, who netted a hat-trick in the Scottish Cup fifth round contest on Saturday is available to play against the German giants with the Hoops successfully appealing UEFA’s decision to suspend the 27 year-old for two games subsequent to Maeda’s harsh red card against BSC Young Boys three weeks ago.
UEFA appoint Spanish officials for the Paradise showdown
UEFA have now confirmed a set of Spanish officials to oversee proceedings in Glasgow’s east end tomorrow night.
Manzano will be the man in the middle for a European match involving Celtic for only the second time in his refereeing career. The 41 year-old experienced whistler was referee when Rodgers guided the Hoops to a famous 3-0 victory away from home in Europe’s elite club competition against Anderlecht back in 2017. That hopefully is a good omen for Celtic.
Assisting Manzano on-field are linesman Diego Barbero and Angel Nevado. Jose Luis Munuera has been named fourth official. Manning VAR duties is Spaniard Carlos del Cerro Grande with Portuguese official Tiago Matins taking up the role as assistant VAR.
Kick-off Time and Where to Watch, other than at Paradise
Kick-off for this UEFA Champions League clash at Paradise on Wednesday evening is 8:00pm. TNT Sports 2 will provide live coverage of the game. Celtic TV will have a delayed broadcast as is usually the case for European fixtures.
Conor Spence
