UEFA appoint Arsenal vs Atletico Madrid referee who sent Gunners player off last season

Piero Hincapie may be wary of Davide Massa during Arsenal's clash with Atletico Madrid on Tuesday evening considering the referee sent him off earlier this year.

Arsenal are set to face Atletico at the Emirates Stadium in the Champions League, with Massa confirmed as the game's official. The 44-year-old will be assisted by Filippo Meli and Stefano Alassio, while Daniele Chiffi will oversee VAR alongside Jerome Brisard.

The fourth official for the match will be Matteo Marcenaro. While a quartet of Italians and a Frenchman have been assigned in the essence of fairness between the Premier League contenders and the Spanish giants, Hincapie may be less than impressed by playing under the watchful eye of Massa.

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That's because the Ecuadorian was shown a red card by the referee in January. Playing for Bayer Leverkusen at the time, the defender was sent off for a second yellow card as he came into an Atletico player from behind to prevent him from entering the box.

Diego Simeone will most likely give his players a stern talking to about their own conduct ahead of Tuesday evening's encounter on English soil, given Massa sent off Pablo Barrios 23 minutes into the very same game for a dangerous challenge.

Despite joining the Gunners on a season-long loan from Leverkusen this summer, Hincapie has failed to find his footing under Mikel Arteta - playing just six minutes of football since his arrival. However, that's down to fitness rather than being a choice made by his Spanish manager.

However, Arteta confirmed during a pre-match press conference on Monday that Hincapie will be available for selection against Atletico. He said of the 23-year-old: "Yeah, he will be available. I think that game (Saturday's 1-0 away victory over Fulham) was a bit to early for him, but now he's ready to go."

With that said, Arteta may be wary of rotating his squad, which has proven incredibly successful on English soil this season and Riccardo Calafiori particularly impressing at left-back. Speaking about Simeone's influence on Atletico ahead of the clash, Arteta said: "What he has done since he got to Atletico has been outstanding, not only what has achieved but the way he has done it.

"The identity he has created, they are simple and clear to identify because the manager is very much them. That's very difficult to achieve, he's been there 14 years and what he's done is incredible.

"He is someone I look up to. His passion, how long he has been in the game, how he still has that capacity to transmit a willingness to win. To keep convincing players in this environment, you have to be extraordinarily good."

Arsenal will hope to go three in three in terms of Champions League wins on Tuesday, following 2-0 defeats of Athletic Club and Olympiacos in their earlier fixtures. Atleti, meanwhile, head into the game with a win and a loss to show for their efforts in the tournament.

Simeone's side suffered a 3-2 loss at the hands of Liverpool in September, before closing out a 5-1 thrashing of Eintracht Frankfurt at the end of the same month and will hope to build momentum as they progress in the Champions League.