Italian Official Takes Charge at the Red Bull Arena
Manchester City's Champions League trip to RB Leipzig on Wednesday night will be overseen by Marco Guida, UEFA has confirmed. The 45-year-old from Pompeii takes charge of his ninth match across all competitions this season.
City arrive in Germany with Enzo Maresca's side looking to recover from a run of three matches without a win in 90 minutes. Back-to-back Premier League defeats to Aston Villa and Brighton & Hove Albion have punctured the mood, the latter a 0-1 reverse at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday afternoon. There was a dramatic penalty shoot-out in the Carabao Cup days earlier, from which City progressed into the quarter-finals.
Europe has offered more comfort. City's last Champions League outing was a 5-1 home win over AEK Athens towards the end of last month, Phil Foden scoring a hat-trick, with Rayan Cherki and Elliot Anderson also on the scoresheet.
A First for Guida and City's Senior Side
Wednesday marks the first time Guida has officiated a Manchester City senior men's match. His only previous encounter with the club came in the UEFA Youth League in February 2016, a 3-1 defeat for City's Under-19 side against Real Madrid in the Round of 16.
His record this season is notably restrained. Across eight matches in Serie A, the Champions League and Europa League, their qualification phases, and the UEFA Nations League, Guida has issued 26 yellow cards, no red cards or second yellows, and awarded just one penalty.
He will be joined at the Red Bull Arena by fellow Italians Giorgio Peretti and Giuseppe Perrotti as assistant referees. Daniele Chiffi is the Video Assistant Referee, with Marco Di Bello as Assistant Video Assistant Referee. Matteo Marcenaro is the fourth official, standing between the dugouts of Martin Demichelis and Maresca.
Demichelis, the former City centre-back, has Leipzig 4th in the Bundesliga behind Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Freiburg. Their league phase campaign has produced two defeats and a win — heavy 4-1 losses away to Real Madrid and Como, plus a 1-0 home victory over PSV in mid-October.