Barcelona face Galatasaray with Marco Guida record raising concern

Barcelona will meet Galatasaray in the Champions League on Tuesday with an unwanted record behind them, having failed to win either of their previous European matches refereed by Italy’s Marco Guida.

UEFA’s referees’ committee has appointed the 45-year-old to take charge of the second round of the league phase at Ali Sami Yen in Istanbul. His fellow Italian Marco Di Bello will oversee the video assistant referee (VAR) operation.

Guida is one of the most experienced referees currently working in Italian football. He began refereeing in 2010 and was awarded his FIFA international badge in 2014.

The match will be his third in European club competitions this season and his second in the Champions League, following an earlier assignment in the qualifying rounds.

It will also be Guida’s third time officiating Barcelona in European competition. The Spanish side have yet to win either of the two previous matches in which he has been the referee.

His most recent Barcelona appointment came last season in the first leg of their last-16 tie against Newcastle United. The match in England ended in a 1-1 draw.

Guida’s first Barcelona game was their Champions League group-stage visit to Belgian club Royal Antwerp in the 2022-23 season. Barcelona lost that match 3-2 on 13 December 2022.

Guida has previously refereed Galatasaray twice. The Turkish club have recorded one victory and one defeat in those matches.

The most recent was against Eintracht Frankfurt in last season’s Champions League league phase, when Galatasaray suffered a 5-1 defeat.