Just seven days apart, spanning May 16 to May 23, FC Barcelona will compete for two titles as they chase a historic season, having already secured the Liga F and the Spanish Super Cup. Pere Romeu’s side now knows which referees will officiate the two finals ahead. First, the Copa de la Reina final this Saturday against Atlético de Madrid at the Gran Canaria Stadium, followed seven days later by the most anticipated final: the UEFA Women’s Champions League final on May 23 at Oslo’s Ullevaal Stadion against Jonatan Giráldez’s Olympique Lyonnais.
The referee appointed by UEFA won’t have to travel far—from Sweden to Norway. The chosen official is Tess Olofsson, 38, who will experience a very special match as it marks her first final in the top European women’s competition. This will be her fourth time officiating Barça, with a favorable record for the blaugranas of two wins and one draw. The victories include a 3-0 win against Manchester City in the 2020/2021 quarterfinals and a 1-4 thrashing of Chelsea in last season’s semifinals. The draw was also against the London side, a 1-1 result during this edition’s group stage at Stamford Bridge on November 20.
Notably, Olofsson has never refereed Lyon, so this will be her first encounter with the French side. Her assistants will be her compatriot Almira Spahic and Norwegian Monika Lokkeberg, while Belgian Bram van Driessche has been appointed as VAR official.
Pere Romeu’s squad will aim to lift their fourth Champions League title and repeat the feat of the 2023/2024 season in San Mamés, where they defeated Lyon 2-0 with goals from Aitana Bonmatí and Alexia Putellas. The goal is to erase the painful knockout in Lisbon last year, when the blaugranas fell to Arsenal 1-0.
But before that, there’s another final at stake: the Copa de la Reina. The RFEF has decided that Olatz Rivera will officiate this Saturday’s final, assisted by Iragartze Fernández and Haizea Castresana, both also from the Basque Committee. Palencia’s Marta Huerta will handle VAR duties, while Raquel Díaz serves as the reserve assistant referee.
The 29-year-old Bilbao-born referee has been an international since 2017 and belongs to the UEFA Elite group. She learned of her appointment this Thursday, communicated by Fran Soto, the president of the Technical Committee of Referees, in a moment captured by cameras that she could not contain her emotion.
