Istvan Kovacs has been designated to referee Manchester City’s Champions League fixture against Atletico Madrid at the Etihad on Tuesday, UEFA have confirmed.

The Blues welcome the Madrid side to the Etihad, which will be the first of two legs at the quarter-final stage of the competition.

Tuesday’s first leg will mark the first-ever competitive meeting between Man City and Atletico, but Guardiola and Simeone have locked horns as managers three times, with the latter getting the better of his counterpart’s Bayern Munich side in the 2015-16 Champions League.

Ahead of the meeting, UEFA have announced that István Kovács will lead an on-field Romanian and off-field Italian team of match officials when Manchester City face Atletico Madrid at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday evening.

The 37 year-old referee, who was fourth official at the Etihad when City played Borussia Dortmund in the quarter-finals of the Champions League last season, has taken charge of 31 matches so far this year; showing 155 yellow cards and seven red cards.

István Kovács has already refereed Pep Guardiola’s side in Europe this season, taking charge of the Blues 5-1 win over Club Brugge in October.

Full Appointments

Referee: Istvan Kovacs
Assistants: Vasile Florin Marinescu & Ovidiu Artene
Fourth Official: Marco Di Bello
VAR: Paolo Valeri
Assistant VAR: Massimiliano Irrati

In reaction to the news shared on Twitter by Man City Xtra, many Man City fans have expressed their thoughts and opinions.

Official: István Kovács [🇷🇴] will referee #ManCity vs Atletico Madrid in the #UCL quarter-final first-leg on Tuesday night. Paolo Valeri [🇮🇹] will be the VAR.
— City Xtra (@City_Xtra) April 3, 2022

“Is he good or bad?”
Credit: @17woid

“Yesssss.”
Credit: @kdbgoat34

“Decent ref to be honest”
Credit: @rmhoek

“Haven’t heard of him so probably good”
Credit: @AbeTheAnarchist

“Very nervous for this match. Come on CITEH .”
Credit: @Curtisstanley56