Balakin will referee PSG-Slovan in the Champions League

UEFA has revealed the officiating assignments for this week’s Champions League fixtures, and for PSG vs Slovan Bratislava the referee will be the Ukrainian Mykola Balakin.

As reported by L'Équipe, it’s a first for PSG in this competition: Balakin, 37 years old, has never previously officiated a match involving the Paris club in the Champions League. In fact, this will only be his fourth Champions League appointment.

What matters for PSG

To put his background in context, L'Équipe notes that Balakin has worked in major tournaments before. He served as fourth official at Euro 2024, and he also took charge in the Europa League when Olympique de Marseille played Brighton in 2023.

That Marseille match left controversy behind: according to L'Équipe, the French club was angry and believed it had been treated unfairly by the officiating.

PSG will play Slovan Bratislava on Wednesday at 21:00, kicking off their Champions League week with an appointment that underlines just how limited Balakin’s European experience with the club actually is.