Ivan Kruzilak, the referee, has angered Virgil van Dijk following a red card twice and has played the villain in a Celtic farce.

A referee whom former Celtics star Virgil van Dijk famously called the “worst ever” will officiate Rangers’ pivotal Europa League round of 16 matchup against Benfica.

With the score tied at 2-2, Ivan Kruzliak, 39, of Slovakia, has been named the match official for Thursday’s Ibrox encounter. Even though this would be his first trip to Scotland, he has made unpleasant headlines the two times he has refereed games involving Celtic, the rival team of the Rangers. Regarding his performance in a 1-0 loss to Inter Milan in 2015, in which eight players were booked and Van Dijk was sent off for a double yellow, Celtic officially complained to FIFA.

The Celtics lost 4-3 overall, and Van Dijk was incensed at Kruzliak’s play. Van Dijk was controversially sent off for a challenge on Mauro Icardi after just 36 minutes after being initially penalized for a foul on Rodrigo Palacio. The current Liverpool star stated at the time, “It was a terrible decision.” In my entire career, the referee has been the worst.It was shocking; I’m not sure why he made this decision. However, I watched the entire game, and I don’t agree with every choice he made.

Last year, when the Hoops suffered yet another road loss, Kruzliak returned to haunt them. He reversed the original yellow card, awarding Celtic star Daizen Maeda a red after a protracted VAR review in their November 2023 6-0 Champions League loss to Atletico Madrid.

Celtic trailed 1-0 with just 21 minutes remaining when Maeda’s late challenge on Mario Hermoso was successful. John Hartson, a former Celtics player, said to TNT Sports at the time, “I don’t think that’s a red card.” Not even close to that. Hermoso has exerted every effort to have Maeda dismissed.

Born in Bratislava, Kruzliak started off his professional refereeing career in 2009 and has since averaged just under five yellow cards per game and 108 red cards.

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