Tasos Sidiropoulos will referee Wednesday’s Champions League clash between Celtic and Borussia Monchengladbach.
The 37-year-old from Greece is in his third season officiating in the Champions League and recently took charge of Leicester City’s 3-0 win away to Brugges.
Last season Sidiropoulos handled three Champions League group matches with the biggest tie being Benfica’s 2-0 win over Astana.
A northern European appointment had been anticipated for the game but UEFA clearly view Sidiropoulos as an emerging official by appointing him for such a high profile match.
Celtic’s 3-3 draw with Manchester City on matchday two was one of the most commented on matches of this season’s Champions League.
Remarkably there were no cards issued in the match with referee Nicola Rizzoli only awarding 16 free-kicks- eight to each side.
With Manchester City and Barcelona strong favourites to qualify for the last 16 the head-to-head clashes between Celtic and Borussia Monchengladbach look certain to decide which club will qualify for a place in the Europa League.
Assessing the situation Brendan Rodgers said: “Our objective was to look to be in Europe after Christmas. We felt it would be great if we could do that from such a strong group.
“The home games are very important for us so this game against Borussia will be vital. If we can come out of the back-to-back games with four points it would put us in a great position.
“They’ll be tough and it will be a rollercoaster but, being realistic, that is what you have to aim for. You look to win your home game and get something away from home, though it is not a disaster if you don’t.
“You have to earn every single point in the Champions League. We are delighted to be in this competition and will try to rinse everything we can out of it.”
