The same referee who took charge of Tottenham’s chaotic, VAR-inspired Champions League quarter-final win over Manchester City will be in the middle as Liverpool look for a famous European comeback against Barcelona at Anfield tonight.
Turkish referee Cuneyt Cakir, regarded as one of Uefa’s top officials, allowed Fernando Llorente’s crucial goal to stand despite handball appeals, before using VAR to correctly rule out what would have been a late winner from Raheem Sterling, sending Spurs through on away goals.
Liverpool’s England contingent are staring down the barrel of a second painful semi-final exit involving Cakir in less than a year – the 42-year-old was the referee for the Three Lions’ World Cup exit at the hands of Croatia in Russia last summer.
He is also the man who refereed Barcelona’s last Champions League final triumph, the 3-1 win over Juventus in 2015.
However, if there is to be a good omen for Liverpool as they look to overturn a 3-0 first-leg deficit, it is perhaps that Barca have already experienced one unlikely Champions League semi-final defeat under his watch.
The Blaugrana were knocked out by Chelsea in 2012 despite John Terry’s early sending off, with the Blues going on to triumph against Bayern Munich.
