UEFA officially announced the name of the referee who will manage the first leg match between Real Madrid and Manchester City in the Round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League, scheduled to take place the day after tomorrow, Wednesday, at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.

The 43-year-old Italian referee Maurizio Mariani will lead the match. This will be the sixth match Mariani officiates this season, and he has not managed any matches for Real Madrid so far. However, he has officiated two matches for Atlético Madrid this season. It will be the second time he manages Manchester City matches, after officiating the English team's match against Marseille, which ended in a 2-1 defeat for City.

For Real Madrid, this will be the third time Mariani officiates their matches in Europe. His last match ended in a 1-0 away defeat to Lille in the group stage last season. The previous time was at the Santiago Bernabéu in the group stage of the 2022/2023 season, ending with a 2-0 win for Real Madrid against Leipzig.

He has only one previous experience with coach Pep Guardiola's team, which was the aforementioned match this season. Italian Marco Di Bello will be responsible for the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology during the match, as part of UEFA's organizational measures to ensure the match runs with the highest possible accuracy.

The match is expected to witness an enthusiastic atmosphere at the Santiago Bernabéu, as Real Madrid seeks to achieve a positive result before the return leg, with UEFA closely monitoring all details of referee appointments to ensure ideal management of UEFA Champions League matches.