Deniz Aytekin, the referee infamous for the historic remontada between Barcelona and PSG, has announced he will retire at the end of the upcoming season. The 47-year-old German will officiate one final campaign before stepping away in 2026.
Aytekin’s name is forever linked to one of football’s most controversial nights — the Champions League Round of 16 second leg on March 8, 2017, where PSG, having won 4–0 in the first leg, collapsed 6–1 at Camp Nou. The match, still a nightmare for Paris fans, was filled with highly debated decisions from Aytekin that sparked outrage in France.
The true “Man of the Match” that night?
While UEFA never officially suspended him, Aytekin was kept away from major European fixtures for years. He retired from international refereeing in 2022, continuing domestically in the Bundesliga, where he was voted Referee of the Year in 2019, 2022, and 2024.
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Aytekin won’t be the only one stepping away. Fellow German referees Tobias Welz (48) and Frank Willenborg (46) will also hang up their whistles at the end of the 2025–2026 season — closing a chapter for German officiating.
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