With Slavko Vincic, UEFA has nominated one of its best referees for Bayern’s Champions League clash with Real Madrid. The Munich side have bad memories of several encounters with the referee.
Slavko Vincic is set to make his ninth appearance of the Champions League season on Wednesday, and it will be his biggest so far in 2025/26: the 46-year-old Slovenian, who will also be back among the World Cup referees this summer, will take charge of the quarter-final second leg between FC Bayern and Real Madrid. Looking at the previous points of contact, this is not necessarily good news for the German record champions.
The first and last time Vincic refereed a competitive match for Bayern, he sealed their exit in the Champions League quarter-finals: the 1-1 draw against Villarreal in April 2022 was just as inadequate as the 2-2 draw at Inter Milan almost exactly one year ago, with Vincic putting in a commanding performance on both occasions.
In total, Bayern have only managed two wins in five Champions League appearances under the entrepreneur, including a 2-0 win at Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the second leg of the last 16 in 2024/25, in which the referee denied Harry Kane an early penalty. Vincic was also involved in Bayern’s 4-1 defeat at FC Barcelona in October 2024.
Real, on the other hand, won three out of four games refereed by the Slovenian. The current season alone includes the 1-0 win over Juventus Turin on matchday 3 of the league phase and the second leg of the knockout round play-off against Benfica Lisbon (2-1).
Real won the Champions League in their first meeting with Vincic
Vincic’s first encounter with the Whites was his previous highlight in the top flight: the 2023/24 final, which Real won 2-0 against Borussia Dortmund. Vincic showed weaknesses with his personal penalties, but had the game under control.
This is exactly what will be important again on Wednesday. The advantage for Bayern is that, unlike against Villarreal or Inter, a draw would be enough for them to reach the semi-finals this time because they have a 2:1 lead from Madrid.
