Daniele Orsato was the man officiating PSG’s Champions League loss to Borussia Dortmund with the referee bursting into tears at full-time after taking charge of his last European game
Referee Daniele Orsato burst into tears in what was his last ever Champions League match as an official.
The Italian will retire after the Euros this summer and his emotions were evident at full-time in the Parc des Princes. Orsato has been a referee for years and has taken charge of some iconic matches, but his career with the whistle is coming to an end.
Borussia Dortmund’s stunning win over PSG proved to be his last match as an official in Europe’s premier club competition. He earned praise for how he performed, making a huge call in the second half as he got a marginal penalty decision spot on, giving a free-kick instead.
Ousmane Dembele was fouled and, after a slight pause, Orsato opted to give a free-kick right on the edge of the area. Replays showed that Mats Hummels’ tackle was millimetres before the PSG player entered the penalty box.
Orsato’s career high came when he refereed the 2020 Champions League final, which also featured PSG as the Parisians lost to Bayern Munich at the Estadio Da Luz with no fans present. The 45-year-old has continued to officiate Serie A matches throughout this season.
Another major accolade came back in 2020, where Orsato was named by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) as the best referee of the year.
The Italian has divided opinion with some major calls throughout his time as a referee. Back in 2019 he took charge of a European clash between Manchester United and PSG, dishing out ten cards and sending off Paul Pogba in front of the Old Trafford crowd.
Orsato also copped some major criticism from Luka Modric. He was the man in the middle as Argentina beat Croatia in the World Cup semi-final in Qatar 18 months ago with the Real Madrid legend hammering the official.
He said: “These things have to be mentioned, I generally don’t do them, but today they have to be done. I don’t like to talk about referees, but this is one of the worst. I don’t have a good memory of [Orsato], he’s a disaster. For me it wasn’t a penalty. Despite this, I don’t want to detract from Argentina. The penalty killed us. We have to recover for third place and win that match.”
