The man tasked with overseeing proceedings in Budapest on Saturday evening is Germany's Daniel Siebert, who is relishing the biggest night of his career so far. The 42-year-old father of two began refereeing as a 14-year-old, making his way through the ranks before joining the list of international referees in 2015. Saturday's final between Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal will be Siebert's first UEFA competition final, but he is no stranger to the big occasion. He refereed two games at UEFA EURO 2024 and three at UEFA EURO 2020, with nine Champions League matches under his belt already this season. In this UEFA.com interview, he discusses his campaign so far and just how much it means to referee the Champions League final.
- Daniel, what was your reaction when you were told you'd be refereeing the UEFA Champions League final?
- It was a really nice moment, and coincidentally, I enjoyed it together with my wife who was with me when Roberto Rosetti (UEFA director of refereeing) called. I had him on loudspeaker, so we were both very excited. Roberto congratulated me and my team, he was very warm and said that we deserved the final, and it was a very emotional moment. You never expect this kind of phone call, but of course you are always hoping that at the end of the season, you could be assigned a final. I'm also so happy for my assistants Jan Seidel and Rafael Foltyn, and especially for Bastian Dankert, who will now have achieved every possible final as a VAR. We all worked together professionally to reach the best possible level that we could, and this is a huge reward.
- The final will be your tenth Champions League match of 2025/26 – more than any other referee. How do you reflect on your season so far?
- I feel as though I have had a good season. The first thing I look at is the number of matches, so I'm very happy to be in that top group with nine games already. Then after that, the important things for me are to have had a good connection with the players, that they trust me, understand and accept my decisions. I had an injury in my calf partway through the season, so I was worried because you never know how quickly you will recover, or if the season will end before it really began. However, my doctors did a really good job to get me back fit again, so this appointment is really a celebration for them as well. My first knockout match was Bodo/Glimt against Inter in February, and since then, I felt that I was in a good rhythm and didn’t make any major errors. So, despite a difficult couple of months, overall, I'm very satisfied so far. To referee the Champions League final will be my biggest achievement, so I'm really happy, but still, I must approach the game with a lot of humility.
- Away from football, you're also a qualified teacher. There must be some overlapping personal skills you can call on in the role as a referee?
- I'm not currently active as a teacher, I'm enjoying being a professional referee and a father to my two kids, but maybe it's something I will go back to. The big advantage for me was working in a sports school, and a lot of contact with talented footballers from a young age. This season, I even refereed two former pupils who have gone on to become Bundesliga players in Germany – Linton Maina at FC Köln and Fisnik Asllani at Hoffenheim. During matches, they still called me Mr Siebert in that formal way that we speak to teachers, so I had to tell them that’s not necessary anymore!
- Has the captain-referee protocol, which prevents too many players from crowding the officials, made your life easier as a referee?
- Yes, it has definitely made a difference. I think there are small steps, and I cannot evaluate the impact in non-professional leagues, but at the highest level, it has been effective. Even though I never suffered any serious issues when I was a grassroots referee, I hope that it will also make an impact for amateur officials too.
-What will your preparation for the final be like?
- After I received the news, I didn’t have too much time to celebrate or reflect because I had a big Bundesliga match on the last day of the domestic season. After that, I was able to relax a little bit and then the most important task is to make sure I am mentally and physically fresh and fully prepared on 30 May. We have some training sessions to make sure we are in good physical shape, but we won't do anything special just because it's a final.
- And finally, how will you feel when you step out onto the pitch at the Puskás Arena on Saturday?
- I'll certainly be excited, but I am good at controlling my emotions and being focused on what I need to do, so I hope to be able to enjoy the match and not put myself under too much pressure. After the game, I am sure some more emotions will come and hopefully as a team we will be able to reflect on a good job.
