The European Football Association announced the appointment of French referee François Letexier to officiate the match between Real Madrid and Benfica in the first leg of the playoff qualifying for the Round of 16 of the tournament.

The match is scheduled to take place at the 'Estádio da Luz' on Tuesday evening at 10:00 PM Egyptian time, 11:00 PM Saudi time.

This will be the sixth match that the French referee officiates for Real Madrid in the Champions League, having previously officiated five matches for the royal team in the continental competition, with the results as follows:

Real Madrid 1-2 Arsenal (Quarter-final second leg of the 2024/2025 season)

Liverpool 2-0 Real Madrid (Fifth round of the league stage 2024/2025)

Real Madrid 3-3 Manchester City (Quarter-final first leg of the 2023/2024 season)

Real Madrid 4-2 Napoli (Fifth round of the group stage 2023/2024)

Real Madrid 2-0 Chelsea (Quarter-final first leg of the 2022/2023 season)

Real Madrid hopes to achieve a positive result away from home before the return match at Santiago Bernabéu on February 25th, in order to secure a place in the Round of 16 and continue their journey towards the continental title.