UEFA has published the referee teams for the Champions League matches of the second day of the group stage, in which Inter and Napoli face Club Brugge and Villarreal respectively. Inter's match against Club Brugge will take place at the San Siro on 13 October at 9pm. The match will be refereed by Norwegian Rohit Saggi, with his colleagues Anders Olav Dale and Ole Andreas Haukåsen as assistants and Sigurd Kringstad as fourth official. At VAR, the Spanish coach Carlos del Cerro Grande will be assisted by Cesar Soto Grado, who will fill the role of AVAR.
For Napoli's match against Villarreal, also scheduled for 13 October at 9pm, UEFA has chosen a German refereeing team. The match will be presided over by German Daniel Siebert, with Jan Seidel and Rafael Foltyn as assistants and Max Burda as fourth official. VAR will be handled by Soren Storks, with Bastian Dankert acting as AVAR. The entire refereeing team, therefore, will be German, in line with UEFA's choice for the Naples match at the Estadio de la Ceramica.
These decisions are part of a wider designations program which sees several nationalities at the center of European competitions. For Inter, the direction of the match was entrusted to a Norwegian referee, with a Spanish support team at VAR, while for Napoli the choice was that of a completely German team. UEFA has thus guaranteed a diversity of skills and backgrounds among match officials, maintaining the neutrality and fairness of the competitions.
In addition to the two main matches, the same day features other Champions League matches: Lens-Sporting, Baku-Slavia Prague, Atletico Madrid-Manchester United, Arsenal-Lille, Viking-Bayern Munich and Leipzig-PSV, each with their own referee teams and designated VARs. This information has been made public by UEFA to allow clubs, fans and the media to know in advance the figures who will regulate the matches.
With the refereeing teams now made official, Inter and Napoli can focus on tactical preparation for their matches. Inter aim to secure their first win in the group stage, while Napoli look to regain their rhythm after their last match. Refereeing decisions, although they do not directly influence the teams' strategy, represent a crucial aspect of the competitive context of the Champions League.