The referee for the first leg of the Barcelona vs Liverpool Champions League semi-final has been announced - and it has not been greeted fondly by the Catalan media.
Dutchman Bjorn Kuipers will be the man in the middle when the Reds travel to the Nou Camp bidding to take a lead back to Anfield on Wednesday evening.
The statistics when Kuipers is the ref for Barca fixtures makes their moaning somewhat understandable.
Mundo Deportivo point out he has been in charge eight times over the years for matches involving the Blaugrana, of which they have won just three, losing once and drawing four. The wins came against Dynamo Kiev in 2009, AC Milan in the 2012 quarter-final and in the 2011 Super Cup versus Porto.
But Mundo were critical of Kuipers after the Porto win, despite Barca claiming the silverware.
All the other Barca games Kuipers has taken charge of have finished all square, with the exception of Celtic's famous group-stage victory in 2012.
The last time Kuipers was the referee for a game involving the Catalan giants was the second leg of the quarter-final against Juventus in 2017, which finished 0-0 after the Bianconeri had won the first fixture 3-0.
Mundo were critical that Neymar was cautioned, and that Miralem Pjanic escaped punishment after a clash with Lionel Messi.
The paper say Kuipers has a 'reputation as a permissive referee, who takes time to whistle'.
Kuipers has only been in charge of one Liverpool match previously, presiding over their 1-1 draw against FC Basel at Anfield in 2014.
Dejan Lovren and Lucas Levia were shown yellow cards.
pyndapbor
156
Barca fans they don't know to comment without the word 'messi'.....I think u should change to Messilona FC not Barcelona FC anymore[Crylaugh][Crylaugh]
fucabdmosy
106
Oh FFS. Are they already making excuses?
Osario39
69
This is "Our Time"! Liverpool going to walk alone for the very first time at Camp Nou! We BARCELONA, the Guru of modern football! There's a saying that goes like this: no matter how the billy goat ties it "FACE", the owner will still kill it. FCB oh.... yea...
Divyansh26
59
No one believe in numbers .......The match would be a good one ......I am eager to watch it and nowadays VAR is also present so no more hype around this ...... This thing is not as cursing as "Drake curse"......
JustGoWithIt
41
Doesn't Matter Which Ref Is In The Middle
Barcelona Will Win [Comeon]
Kucntuy
40
barca already out.....Liverpool will punish them....
zeeabmtuyz
19
Mundo is crying wolf, so, they can now be complaining of Bjorn Kuipers,did they criticized referee Tom Ovrebor back in 2009,when he was sent to robbed Chelsea FC a consecutive Champions league final with Man Utd with his daylight robbery officiating ?.mundo should be ashamed of themselves for complaining about the referee in that match that hasn't played. all football fans in the whole world knows barca to be always get favoured in every match even in LA liga.