UEFA announced the appointment of Dutch referee Danny Makkelie to officiate the first leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-final between Atletico Madrid and Arsenal, scheduled to take place the day after tomorrow at the Metropolitano Stadium. Dutchman Pol van Boekel will be responsible for the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology.

This will be referee Danny Makkelie's eighth match in the current edition of the UEFA Champions League, and it will be the first time he officiates a match for Atletico Madrid in the tournament this season. He previously officiated a match for Arsenal in the Round of 16 against Bayer Leverkusen, which ended with the English team winning 2-0 at home.

The Dutch referee has a previous record with Atlético Madrid in European competitions, having officiated 7 matches for the team before. During these matches, Atlético achieved 3 wins, 3 draws, and suffered only one defeat, which came against Liverpool in the group stage of the 2021/2022 season when they lost 2-0 at Anfield.

Makieli's last appearance with Atletico Madrid in the Champions League was during the previous season, when the team won 6-0 against Sparta Prague in the group stage.

The referee has previously managed three matches for Atlético Madrid at the Metropolitano Stadium, one of which ended in a win and two in draws. The most recent was in the group stage of the 2022/2023 season when the team drew 0-0 with Club Brugge, and before that, they drew 2-2 with Juventus in the 2019/2020 season.

As for Arsenal, Makkelie has officiated 4 European matches for the English team, during which they achieved 3 wins and suffered one defeat without any draws.