Liverpool vs Real Madrid referee: Clement Turpin to officiate Champions League final
The Frenchman will officiate Saturday’s final
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Your support makes all the difference.Clement Turpin will referee the Champions League final between Liverpool fc and Real Madrid on Saturday.
Turpin, who has been an international referee since 2010, has a wealth of European football experience including seven Champions League games this season.
He was the man in the middle for last season's Europa League final between Manchester United and Villarreal and also officiated at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
He last refereed Liverpool in last season's Champions League where he took charge of the last-16 match between the Reds and RB Leipzig.
Turpin was in charge of Real Madrid's quarter-final first leg against Chelsea, a game where Karim Benzema scored a hat-trick in a 3-1 win at Stamford Bridge.
He will be assisted by Nicolas Danos and Cyril Gringore with Benoit Bastien the fourth official. Jerome Brisard will be in charge of VAR.
He is sure to be in charge of an emotional encounter. The two clubs will clash with the Reds attempting to avenge their 2018 Champions League final defeat to the same opponents.
And if that wasn’t motivation enough for the Reds they have the knowledge of doing the treble after already winning the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup.
They narrowly missed out on the Premier League, finishing one point behind winners Manchester City, but manager Jurgen Klopp says that will feed their desire to claim the Champions League.
“Losing the league of course increased the desire to put it right next week, and yeah, what’s happened has increased the desire for us for sure,” he said. “There is incredible expectation on this team, but that’s ok. I am incredibly proud, of course I am, the boys played an incredible season, the whole journey so far has been absolutely exceptional.
“It has been incredible, and for us it doesn’t end today. We have a week now to prepare for the final and that is what we will do. We will try absolutely everything.
“The season was so close, so tight, it came down to moments, decisions. What I learned about life is, if you stay focused and keep going, you get the reward. Not today, but we will keep going and it will happen.”
But Klopp isn’t the only one with fighting talk as Liverpool have been given a Carlo Ancelotti warning ahead of the final.
Former Reds manager Rafael Benitez said: “Ancelotti then has the ability - through experience - to make the right decisions. And that’s what it is - experience. People talk about ‘progression’ - these social media football managers as I call them - but the reality is that it’s experience.
“His knowledge has given him an ability to make the right decisions on more occasions. You will make mistakes as a manager - team selection, game-plan, substitutions. But Ancelotti is clever enough to read games and, with age and more experience, he has improved at it.”
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