Davide Massa to take charge of Barcelona’s Champions League meeting with Aston Villa

UEFA has appointed Italian referee Davide Massa to oversee Barcelona’s Champions League league-phase match against Aston Villa on Tuesday, 3 November 2026.

The fixture will be played at Spotify Camp Nou and forms part of the fourth round of matches in the 2026-27 Champions League league phase.

Massa will be assisted by fellow Italians Alessio Berti and Filippo Meli, while Fabio Maresca has been named as the fourth official. Germany’s Bastien Dankert will be responsible for the video assistant referee system, with Switzerland’s Lukas Fahndrich acting as his assistant.

Massa returns to Spotify Camp Nou

The appointment represents Massa’s second match involving Barcelona. He previously refereed the Catalan club’s 2-1 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt at Spotify Camp Nou last season.

Barcelona did not deliver an outstanding performance in that game, but recovered from falling behind after Jules Kounde scored twice to secure the win.

Massa will now take charge as Barcelona attempt to respond to their first defeat of this Champions League campaign and Aston Villa look to maintain their perfect record.

After three league-phase matches, Aston Villa have won all three of their games. They are part of a group of teams with a 100% record, alongside Paris Saint-Germain, Liverpool, Real Madrid and Real Betis.

Barcelona began their European campaign with two victories before losing in the previous round at Paris Saint-Germain’s Parc des Princes.

The result leaves Hans-Dieter Flick and his players looking to return to winning ways in the competition when the English side visit Spotify Camp Nou. Barcelona also hope to build on the improved form they showed against Alaves last Saturday.

Victory would give Flick’s side another important step towards securing direct qualification for the last 16.