Timid ref given opportunity to punish home fans

Ahead of tonight’s match at Vicente Calderón Stadium, Danish referee Claus Bo Larsen has been encouraged by UEFA to call the game to a halt if the racist abuse that blighted Atletico Madrid’s last European home game against Marseilles reoccurs.

This morning on talkSPORT, fellow Dane Peter Schmeichel hinted that Larsen is the type of rule-abiding official who would have the nerve to call off proceedings if the fans misbehave. However, a little research on the table tennis-loving customs clearance ref suggests he is happy to steer clear of controversy and the spotlight: in the last ten years he has issued just 99 yellow cards and has failed to pull out a single red.

Also, it’s not quite clear what would happen if the game is called off - would Liverpool be awarded automatic victory? If so, the temptation for travelling fans to contribute to the ‘racist noise’ at the first sign of defeat would be quite high, albeit thoroughly unlikely.

Spanish goalkeeper Pepe Reina, however, has provided reassurance - apparently the nation who made Lewis Hamilton feel so welcome and whose basketball team acted very appropriately in Beijing have no racism issues:

“There is no problem with racism here and there has never been a problem. It’s because some people are talking about that now, mainly from England, but I can say that Spain is not a racist country and Madrid is not a racist city.”

Liverpool have more to worry about than Larsen’s ability to deal with racist abuse - British sides have won just one of the last six European games he officiated, losing four. The last Liverpool game he refereed was their 2-1 loss to Besiktas last October.