The referee has been chosen for Newcastle United against AC Milan in the final group stage game of the 2023-24 Champions League, and it is Danny Makkelie.
The 40-year-old Dutchman doesn’t bring much good luck to the Rossoneri. As La Gazzetta dello Sport write, Makkiele has already taken charge of two Milan games, both in the Champions League, against Chelsea (2022-23) and Liverpool (2021-22).
The first game was at San Siro, when Milan also needed to win the last group game to try and keep alive their hopes of reaching the UCL knockout stages, but ultimately they lost 2-0. The other was at Stamford Bridge and resulted in a 3-0 defeat with a side heavily impacted by injuries.
He has also refereed Inter five times in his career, including the Europa League final lost to Sevilla in 2020, but for them the record reads three wins and two defeats. Makkelie also refereed Juventus three times, the Italian national team three more times and Roma twice.
