A new face takes charge of his first ever UCL game on matchday 1 of the league phase at Stade Louis II.
Champions League fans will have become familiar with the names, and faces, of plenty of different match officials over the years. However, Allard Lindhout, who takes charge of the matchday 1 game between Monaco and Barcelona on Thursday (September 19) is unlikely to be one of them.
The Dutchman takes charge of his first ever UCL fixture at Stade Louis II, although he has acted as fourth official in a number of games in the competition, including in Real Madrid’s come-from-behind win in the round-of-16 against PSG (the Karim Benzema hat-trick game) in March 2022 and the group stage match between Bayern Munich and Barça later that year.
37-year-old Lindhout made his refereeing debut in the Eredivisie, the top division in the Netherlands, in April 2015, and has since gone on to officiate 188 matches in that particular competition.
The most high-profile games he has been in the middle for were in the Europa League, in which he took charge of group stage fixtures between FK TSC and West Ham, and Olympiacos and Freiburg last season.
So far this season, he has refereed seven matches, including the Champions League qualifier between Slovan Bratislava and APEOL Nicosia and the UEFA Nations League B clash in which Kazakhstan took on Erling Harland’s Norway.
Lindhout has averaged four yellow cards per game in 2024/25 but has yet to send anyone off and award a penalty.
Who is the VAR for Monaco - Barcelona?
The Dutchman will be assisted by four compatriots in Monaco, with Rogier Honig and Patrick Inia acting as his assistant referee. Joey Kooij will be on the touchline as the fourth official, while VAR Dennis Higler will be helped out by Clay Ruperti, the Assistant Video Assistant Referee.