Celtic - Rennes: a Portuguese referee in Celtic Park

For their second confrontation in the Europa League, Stade Rennes and Celtic Glasgow will be refereed by a Portuguese official this Thursday. Aged 37, Bruno Paixão was designated by the UEFA to manage this game.

An engineer in civilian life, M. Paixão has been officiating in the Portuguese first division since 1997, and in international competitions since 2004. He has notably refereed the 2008 Portugal Cup final. During the 2008-2009 season, Bruno Paixão had already refereed a game in Celtic Park in the Europa League. The Scottish team had then be forced to a draw against Rapid Vienna (1-1).
In average, this referee gives five to six yellow cards per game and sends off a player every two to three games.

This season, Stade Rennes has already been refereed by a Portuguese official. It was mid-August for its trip to Belgrade (2-1). Duarte Gomes was in charge of the game then.