The referee for the match between Ajax and Besiktas in the group stage of the Champions League on Tuesday (6.45 pm) has been announced. UEFA has appointed Frenchman Benoît Bastien to lead the game in the Johan Cruijff ArenA in the right direction. It will be the referee’s first game in the group stage of the billion-dollar ball this season.
Bastien is assisted on the field by his French assistant referees Hicham Zakrani and Aurélien Berthomieu. Jérémie Pignard has been named fourth official. UEFA has chosen Delajod Willy as VAR, while Italian Massimiliano Irrati will act as AVAR. The 38-year-old referee already has experience in the Champions League. For example, last season he was the arbitrator in the group stage in the matches Zenit Saint Petersburg – Club Brugge (1-2) and Lokomotiv Moscow – Atlético Madrid (1-1). Bastien has never whistled a duel for Ajax, although he was fourth official in April 2019 at the home match of the team from Amsterdam against Juventus.
Ajax has started the Champions League excellently with a 5-1 victory over Sporting Portugal, partly due to four goals from Sébastien Haller. Besiktas got off to a false start. The reigning champion of Turkey lost 1-2 to Borussia Dortmund at home. Besiktas travels battered to Amsterdam. Domogoj Vida, Welinton, Mehmet Topal, Salih Ucan, Oguzhan Özyakup, Georges-Kevin N’Koudou, Miralem Pjanic and Rachid Ghezza will not be there anyway for various reasons.
In the run-up to the match against Besiktas, Ajax fueled confidence against FC Groningen on Saturday evening. For their own audience, the team of coach Erik ten Hag was too strong for Danny Buijs’ team 3-0 due to goals from Edson Álvarez, Antony and Noussair Mazraoui. A day earlier, Besiktas lost 2-1 to Altay, the current number two of the Turkish Süper Lig.
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