Romain Rouillard / Photo credit: JEAN CATUFFE / DPPI VIA AFP
They can adopt an austere, even martial attitude, but sometimes emotions take over. Tuesday evening, Daniele Orsato, the Italian referee of the Champions League semi-final second leg lost by Paris Saint-Germain against Borussia Dortmund (0-1) burst into tears after blowing the final whistle.
In a photo shared on Very moved, Daniele Orsato certainly realizes, at this moment, that he has just managed the last Champions League match of his career. Aged 48, he will retire at the end of Euro 2024.
#PSG#Orsato in the end, we are happy to read the text #UCL Spiel war, da nach der #EURO2024 Schluss sein soll. Die (zTunsinnigen+ übertriebenen) Tests zu bestehen im Alter nicht einfacher, aber er ist einer von nur noch wenigen absoluten Top-SR+sollte weitermachen! pic.twitter.com/kmaxdcyMJZ
— Manuel Gräfe (@graefe_manuel) May 8, 2024
Five French clubs refereed in the Champions League
A well-known face among football fans, the Transalpine referee has refereed a total of 55 matches in the most prestigious club competition. He was notably on the whistle for the 2020 final, played in Lisbon, and behind closed doors – Covid obliges – between Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich.
He managed his first C1 match on September 18, 2012 during a Dinamo Zagreb-FC Porto and will have crossed paths with several French clubs in the competition, notably Montpellier that year, but also AS Monaco in 2017, the Olympique Lyonnais in 2018 and 2019, Olympique de Marseille in 2020 and Lille in 2021. On the other hand, he will not have refereed any French club during the 16 Europa League matches for which he was responsible. Daniele Orsato was also on the whistle for three matches during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, including the semi-final between Argentina and Croatia.
At the national level, he has 288 appearances in Serie A, the Italian first division championship. He managed his first match there on December 17, 2006 during a Siena-Atalanta match. In 602 matches in all competitions, he will have distributed 2,817 yellow cards and 83 red cards. A total still likely to change in the coming weeks, its last in the world of arbitration. At least, on the ground.