Serbian Srdjan Jovanovic is a surprise choice to officiate the top of the table Champions League showdown between Chelsea and Juventus this evening.
It kicks off at Stamford Bridge at 20.00 GMT.
Juventus have already qualified for the Round of 16 and even a draw will be enough to guarantee top spot, which should in theory provide a better draw going into the knockouts.
Jovanovic is only 35 years old and has been a FIFA referee since 2015.
This represents only his fifth game in the Champions League proper, along with four in the qualifying rounds.
His games so far were Ajax 3-0 LOSC in September 2019, Real Madrid 2-3 Shakhtar Donetsk in October 2020, then this season Borussia Dortmund 1-0 Sporting CP and Shakhtar Donetsk’s 5-0 home defeat to Real Madrid.
Jovanovic has so far shown himself to be quite a lenient referee, who has not awarded a single penalty or flashed a red card in the Champions League.
In four games, he handed out only 11 yellow cards.
He did officiate Roma’s 3-0 Europa Conference League win against Trabzonspor on August 26, but most notably crossed paths with Italy in their Nations League third place final win over Belgium on October 10.