Felix Brych was born on 3 August 1975 in Munich. He started his refereeing career in 1999, officiating at low-tier games in Germany. He got promoted to the Bundesliga in 2004. Brych has also studied law, obtaining a doctoral degree in sports law.

He earned his FIFA badge in 2007 and made his international debut in a Romania-Luxembourg encounter (2-0 for the “tricolorii”) for the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying stage.

On February 2008, he handled his first UEFA Cup match, a 1-1 draw between Panathinaikos and Rangers FC. Eight months later, he made his UEFA Champions League match, in Liverpool’s 3-1 victory over PSV Eindhoven.

His top career moment was being assigned the UEFA Champions League final of 2017 between Real Madrid and Juventus in Cardiff, the Spanish giants prevailing 4-1.

SL Benfica fans don’t have any fond memories of Brych, as he took charge of UEFA Europa League final of 2014, where the Portuguese side lost to Sevilla FC 4-2 in the penalty-shootout.

He refereed in the finals of UEFA Euro 2016 and FIFA World Cup 2014. This summer in Russia, he handled the Switzerland-Serbia game of the FIFA World Cup 2018 group stage, but his poor performance deprived him of further matches.

The 43-year-old will be accompanied in Toumba Stadium by Mark Borsch and Stefan Lupp, the assistant referees, with Markus Häcker acting as fourth official. Bastian Dankert and Marco Fritz complete the team as additional assistant referees. Austrian Fritz Stuchlik is the Referee Observer for the match.