There are already referees for the European games of Benfica, Torreense and Sp. Braga

A UEFA announced, in the form of a statement issued through the official platforms early this Tuesday morning, that Jasper Vergoote is the man elected to whistle the meeting of the third day of the league phase of the Europa League, which will put, face to face, Omonia and Benfica.

The 34-year-old judge will lead an almost 100% Belgian team, composed by assistants Michele Seeldraeyers and Martijn Tiesters, the fourth referee Kevin Van Damme and AVAR Bert Put, the only exception being the Italian Gianluca Aureliano, who will be at the helm of the VAR, in the game scheduled for 8 p.m. (Hour of Continental Portugal) on Thursday, at Neo GSP, in Nicosia, Cyprus.

This will be the first time in the career that Jasper Vergoote will meet Benfica, at the highest level, this, after having been present in the defeat suffered by the sub-19 team before Real Society, on November 8, 2023, by 2-1, in play for the UEFA Youth League group phase.

In the curriculum, it also has a match of FC Porto, one of Santa Clara and another of the national team of sub-17, which culminated all of them in victories, respectively, on Rangers (in January this year, by 3-1), NK Varazdin (in July 2025, by 2-0) and Poland (in May 2024, by 2-1).

French referee in the Ferencváros-Torreense..

Also in the Europa League, the clash between Ferencváros and Torreense, which will take place from 5:45 p.m. on Thursday, at Groupama Arena in Budapest, Hungary, will have as referee the Frenchman Jérôme Brisard, who in this case will have at his disposal a team composed exclusively of compatriots.

Alexis Auger and Aurélien Berthomieu will be the assistants, Eric Wattellier the fourth referee, Mathieu Vernice the VAR and Nicolas Rainville the AVAR, in which will be a complete debut for the natural judge of Châteaubriant as regards the opportunity to guide games of Portuguese teams, in the senior plan.

This is because Jérôme Brisard only counts on the resume with a game of the FC Porto sub-19 team (lose), one of the national team of sub-20 (match), one of the sub-19 (victory) and another of the sub-16 (victory).

...and Latvian at Braga-Gent Sporting

Already at the Liga Conference of Europe, the duel between Sporting Braga and Gent, which has kick-off scheduled for Thursday 8 p.m., at the Braga Municipal Stadium, will count on the arbitration of Andris Treimanis, curiously, the most experienced of the three judges assigned to the games of these three Portuguese teams.

The compatriots Haralds Gudermanis and Arturs Sakurovs will be their assistants, Aleksandrs Golubevs the fourth referee and Kristaps Ratnieks the AVAR, emerging the Greek Angelos Evangelou, who will be in charge of the operations of the VAR, as the only ‘intruder’, since he does not have Latvian nationality.

This is a ‘known face’ of Portuguese football, since it was already present in the past in three matches of FC Porto (a victory, a draw and a defeat) and one of Benfica (match).