Referee on Jose ‘blacklist’ given semi-final mission

UEFA has handed Frank de Bleeckere the task of refereeing tomorrow’s Champions League match between Barcelona and Real Madrid — an appointment unlikely to go down well with the Madrid manager Jose Mourinho.

Mourinho, who will not be speaking to the press ahead of tomorrow’s match at the Nou Camp, last week accused referees of favouring the Catalan side after his team lost 2-0 to Barca in the first leg of their semi-final at the Bernabeu.

The Portuguese was enraged by the dismissal of the makeshift midfielder Pepe by Wolfgang Stark and afterwards read out a list of officials he believes have made decisions which have benefited Barca in previous years.