Pep Guardiola said back in 2018: "He's a referee who likes to feel different, he's special. When everybody sees things he is going to see the opposite"; Antonio Mateu Lahoz has refereed six games in the Champions League so far this season
Wednesday 12 May 2021 17:47, UK
The referee for the Champions League final between Chelsea and Manchester City will be Antonio Mateu Lahoz, who sent off Pep Guardiola during a game three years ago.
The City manager confronted the Spanish official for ruling out a goal in the second leg as his team lost 5-1 on aggregate to Liverpool in the quarter-final of the Champions League in 2018.
Leroy Sane had scored what City thought was their second goal of the game but it was wrongly ruled out for offside, prompting a tirade from Guardiola towards Lahoz.
After the game, Guardiola said: "I know him from Spain so I could imagine that. I was polite, I was correct. Mateu Lahoz is a special guy, he likes to be different, he likes to be special.
"He's a referee who likes to feel different, he's special. When everybody sees things he is going to see the opposite. It's too much to send me off because I didn't say any wrong word."
Mateu Lahoz has officiated in six matches in the elite European club competition this season.
The all-English final is due to be played on May 29. UEFA has said the venue will be confirmed imminently after the football governing body needed to move the showpiece from Istanbul due to a surge in coronavirus cases in Turkey and following the UK government's decision to add the nation to its 'red list' of at-risk countries concerning Covid-19.
The final between Manchester City and Chelsea remains without a confirmed venue with UEFA and the UK government still locked in talks over Wembley or Porto in Portugal.
The 50,000-capacity Estadio do Dragao is being suggested as an alternative to the Ataturk Stadium in Istanbul and Portugal is on the UK government's 'green' list for foreign travel from May 17, meaning that travellers do not have to quarantine upon their return.
