The native football refereeing reports an extremely strong week on the European stage. Plovdiv referee Radoslav Gidzhenov has received a prestigious UEFA assignment for the second round match in the main phase of the Europa League between Dutch giants AZ Alkmaar and Israeli champions Hapoel (Beer Sheva).
The clash will be played this Thursday (October 15) at 19:45 Bulgarian time at the stadium in Alkmaar.
Debut in the main phase and a strong season for Gidzhenov
The upcoming match in the Netherlands marks Gidzhenov's official debut in the groups/main phase of the second most powerful European club tournament. This will be his fourth international commitment since the beginning of the current campaign. So far he has officiated the following matches:
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Nations League: Latvia – Montenegro
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Champions League (qualifiers): Dinamo (Zagreb) – Thun (Switzerland)
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Conference League (qualifiers): Larne (Northern Ireland) – Lincoln (Gibraltar)
A completely Bulgarian team on the field and a respectful observer
In Alkmaar, Gidzhenov will rely on a proven native team near the touchlines, while control over the video replay system (VAR) is entrusted to an international arbitration:
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Assistant referees: Miroslav Maksimov and Petar Mitrev
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Fourth official: Nikola Popov
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Head VAR referee: Lukas Fendrich (Switzerland)
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Assistant VAR: Tomasz Kwiatkowski (Poland)
An extremely high recognition for the Bulgarian team is also the referee observer appointed by UEFA - the legendary former German referee Knut Kircher, who will evaluate their performance. The delegate for the match will be the Hungarian Istvan Husar.
Searching for a first triumph in the tournament
Both rivals enter the match under pressure and with a mandatory victory sought, after not starting their European campaign in the best way:
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AZ Alkmaar suffered a minimal loss with 0:1 when visiting the English Sunderland in the first round.
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Apoel (Beer Sheva) started with a 0:0 draw at home against the Croatian champion Dinamo (Zagreb).
Georgi Kabakov takes out Bayern Munich
The massive Bulgarian presence in Europe is complemented by our best referee Georgi Kabakov, who has been entrusted with a top match in the Champions League. This evening (October 13), he will be the main referee of the match between the Norwegian sensational team Viking (Stavanger) and the German giant Bayern (Munich).