Real Madrid handed banned referee for Champions League clash with RB Leipzig

Italian referee Marco Di Bello will be part of the officiating team for this Wednesday’s Champions League clash between Real Madrid and RB Leipzig, despite receiving a ban in Serie A recently.

Di Bello was the referee who controversially sent off three Lazio players in their 1-0 loss to Milan on Friday night.

Luca Pellegrini was the first player to receive his marching orders, picking up a second booking on 57 minutes for cynically bringing down Christian Pulisic and ending a counter-attack. The left-back had hoped Pulisic was offside but the assistant referee’s flag did not go up.

Next up to be dismissed was Adam Marusic, whose tame but frustrated reaction to being penalised for a 94th-minute shove on Rafael Leao was deemed to have crossed a line by Di Bello who reached for the red card.

Moments later, former Arsenal midfielder Matteo Guendouzi was sent off for dragging Pulisic to the ground after being fouled by the American.

Di Bello received widespread criticism for his handling of Lazio’s loss to Milan / Anadolu/GettyImages

Reports from Italy claim Di Bello will be been handed a one-month ban from Serie A games and could be forced to take charge of second-tier Serie B games upon his return, but he has still been selected for UEFA competition.

Di Bello has been named as the fourth official for the second leg of Madrid’s tie against Leipzig, with Los Blancos leading 1-0 from the reverse fixture thanks to a stunning Brahim Diaz goal. Davide Massa will serve as referee with Filippo Meli and Stefano Alassio as his assistants, while Massimiliano Irrati is on VAR duty.

Madrid’s season has been been sidetracked by controversies in regards to officiating, with the club’s in-house TV channel reported to La Liga by their rivals for their intense coverage of questionable refereeing decisions.

Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Valencia was also marred by an officiating debacle, with referee Jesus Gil Manzano blowing the full-time whistle mere seconds before Jude Bellingham thought he had headed in a winner.