When was the last time a Spanish referee officiated the Champions League final come to think of it?
Was it in 2005?
(i know that Spanish teams have been in a lot of finals since.)
2005 - Manuel Mejuto González
1996 - Manuel Díaz Vega
1969 - José María Ortiz de Mendíbil
Thanks.
It seems surprising Spain have only had one referee do the CL final in the 21st century considering Switzerland (quite rightly) have had two. (I know there are more Spanish than Swiss teams doing well in Europe!)
I was also surprised by how long it was since France had a referee do the fianl and indeed the fact that there'd been no Swedish referee doing it since the 1980s (I can think of at least three who I'd have said were good enough to do it.)
Looking through the list, I'd say Orsato was probably the weakest to be appointed to a final since the mid 2000s - quite rare for a referee to get the final without having refereed at a Euros or World Cup first (I guess happened with Clattenburg just about although he went on to do the Euro 2016 final and had done CL semi-finals previously so was clearly at that sort of level.)
I am sure you will mean Peter Fjordfeldt among that lot. A superb referee who always seemed to have great respect from the players. When you think he never had the Final and yet someone like Orsato has then it perhaps shows the dearth of good officials today or the plethora of good ones in years past. Or both
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