Sandro Schärer will referee Club Brugge vs Aston Villa in Tuesday’s Champions League opener, with the Swiss official taking charge of Unai Emery’s side for the second time.
Villa travel to the Jan Breydel Stadium looking for their first victory of the new season after taking one point from their opening three Premier League games.
Schärer has now been appointed to oversee the Champions League league-phase fixture, supported by an experienced officiating team.
Supporters can also find our complete Club Brugge vs Aston Villa TV channel, kick-off time and team news guide ahead of the game.
Who is the referee for Club Brugge vs Aston Villa?
Swiss referee Sandro Schärer will be the man in the middle.
The full officiating team is:
- Referee: Sandro Schärer
- Assistant referee: Stéphane De Almeida
- Assistant referee: Jonas Erni
- Fourth official: Anojen Kanagasingam
- VAR: Fedayi San
- Assistant VAR: Bastian Dankert
The Matchday 1 appointment list confirms Schärer and the predominantly Swiss team have been assigned to Villa’s opening Champions League fixture.
Schärer is an experienced European official who has regularly worked across both the Champions League and Europa League.
He was involved deep into last season’s Champions League, including Paris Saint-Germain’s dramatic 5-4 semi-final victory over Bayern Munich.
Sandro Schärer has refereed Aston Villa before
Tuesday will not be Schärer’s first experience of Emery’s Villa.
He previously refereed Villa’s 3-1 Europa League quarter-final victory away at Bologna on 9 April 2026.
That is certainly a positive previous result from a Villa perspective.
Emery’s side won at the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara on their way to lifting the Europa League trophy later that season.
Schärer showed three yellow cards during that match and did not produce a red card.
Villa will hope Tuesday brings another successful European away night under the Swiss official.
Their overall Champions League record under Emery has been impressive, while our Club Brugge vs Aston Villa H2H guide also shows Villa have won two of their three previous meetings with Tuesday’s opponents.
What is Sandro Schärer’s card record?
Schärer is not an official who is afraid to use his cards.
Across his Champions League career, his disciplinary numbers sit at roughly four cards per game, although individual matches can vary significantly.
His only Champions League appointment so far this season was Celtic’s 3-0 victory over LASK in qualifying, when he showed just one yellow card.
His domestic assignments have been considerably more card-heavy.
Schärer showed six yellows during Luzern’s 1-0 victory over Lausanne in August, while another recent Swiss Super League fixture between Young Boys and Basel produced five.
That makes his previous Villa fixture particularly relevant.
The 3-1 victory at Bologna produced three bookings but no dismissal.
Aston Villa begin Champions League campaign in Bruges
Schärer’s appointment completes another part of the match information ahead of Tuesday.
Villa arrive in Belgium after failing to score in their opening three Premier League matches, while Club Brugge have won four of their opening five domestic games.
The Belgian champions also boast an imposing recent European home record.
Our Club Brugge vs Aston Villa prediction assesses that form, the latest team news and how Tuesday’s match could unfold.
For Schärer, it represents another major European assignment.
For Villa, the hope will be that his second match involving Emery’s side ends the same way as the first.
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