Kairat Almaty v Celtic – Experienced Italian referee Maurizio Mariani has whistle

The Italian referee is set to oversee the £40 million match in Kazakhstan as Brendan Rodgers’ side look to book their place in Europe’s elite club competition for a fourth consecutive season.

A group of fellow Italian officials will join Mariani for the match scheduled tonight at 5:45pm CPT which will be shown live on Amazon Prime.

Running the line for the game are duo Daniele Bindoni and Alberto Tegoni, while Matteo Marchetti has been appointed by UEFA as the fourth official. Marco Di Bello will handle VAR duties, with Valerio Marini supporting him in the review booth.

It will be the first occasion in his career that referee Mariani is the whistler for a fixture involving both Celtic and Kairat Almaty. However, the man in the middle for this evening’s mammoth encounter has overseen six previous matches featuring Scottish teams.

The 43-year-old has taken charge of two matches for the latest Ibrox club, two Scotland internationals, and two fixtures involving the Scotland U19s side.

Mariani officiated theRangers’ 4-0 Europa League qualifying victory over Willem II in 2020 and later oversaw their 1-1 Champions League qualifying draw with Servette in Switzerland two years ago.

Meanwhile, he was in charge of Scotland‘s 3-0 victory over Ukraine at Hampden Park in 2022 in the UEFA Nations League. While officiating Scotland U19 games, Mariani was the man in the middle for a 3-1 win against Turkey followed by a 4-0 defeat to Portugal.

Throughout last season, Mariani officiated 37 games in both Serie A and European competition. During that period, he issued 134 yellow cards, five red cards, and awarded nine penalties.

Celtic have not been used to Champions League qualifiers in recent seasons, but games don’t come much bigger than this tonight. Let’s hope there is no controversy from Mariani’s point of view as the stakes for both sides could not be higher.

COYBIG

Conor Spence