Inter-Arsenal ref will be taking his 1st Gunners game

On Jan 19, 2026

Arsenal’s match against Inter Milan on Tuesday will be refereed by an official who has never refereed the Gunners before.

Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images

UEFA has confirmed its choice of match officials for Tuesday’s match between Arsenal and Inter Milan, with an almost entirely Portuguese squad in charge of the encounter.

Joao Pinheiro will referee the match, assisted by Bruno Jesus and Luciano Maia. Joao Goncalves will be the fourth referee.

Next, Tiago Martins will be on VAR, with Carlos del Cerro Grande as VAR assistant. Del Cerro is the only non-Portuguese official present in the match, as he is from Spain.

Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images

Advertisements

Referee Pinheiro has never taken charge of an Arsenal match before, although he has refereed a number of other English teams, including Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City, Chelsea, Manchester United and others.

The same goes for VAR official Tiago Martins, who has also never refereed the Gunners. The referees should therefore arrive almost completely new to this match.

The “almost” is because Pinheiro has already refereed Inter Milan once, winning a group stage match against RB Leipzig in 2024. Inter won the match 1-0, although he felt aggrieved by a few decisions taken against him.

Photo by Claudio Villa/Getty Images

In terms of general refereeing experience, Pinheiro refereed the UEFA Super Cup between PSG and Spurs earlier this season, as well as the Allianz Cup between Sporting CP and Benfica last January.

The referee will be very familiar with Viktor Gyokeres, who scored penalties for Sporting in normal time and in the penalty shootout in this match.

After Arsenal were denied a clear shot on goal against Inter last season, only to see the opposition awarded a penalty for a soft handball call, the Gunners are just hoping the referee gives them a fair chance this time around.