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AN ITALIAN on the wrong end of criticism from Jose Mourinho and Danny Blind will take charge of Celtic’s mouthwatering Champions League clash with Barcelona on Wednesday night.
Daniele Orsato will be officiating in a match involving a Scottish side for the first time but will be well known to Chelsea fans after overseeing the English giants three times since graduating to the FIFA list in 2010.
On the last occasion, in their group stage encounter with Maribor in November 2014, the 40-year-old was condemned by Mourinho, who was sent to the stand twice by the Italian when he was in charge of Inter Milan.
“We scored two goals, two very good goals,” said Mourinho with reference to a Diego Costa strike that was ruled out for offside.
“The second goal, the referee decided to disallow but it’s a clear goal. Normally we should win because we scored two goals. The referee’s team didn’t have a good night.”
Orsato has also been lambasted by Blind, who accused the referee of making an ‘incredible mistake’ as the Netherlands were held to a 1-1 draw by Sweden in September.
Orsato, who turns 41 on Thursday, ruled out a 90th-minute strike from Das Bost for an alleged push by the striker on a defender.
“The referee was in the way,” said Blind. ”I thought he officiated very well, but this is an incredible mistake by him.”
