His 200th Bundesliga appearance gave top referee Deniz Aytekin a lot of pleasure: “Such an opening game is not only something special for the players, but also for the referees.”
“It was great fun to be part of this whole stage,” said the referee from Oberasbach after FC Bayern Munich’s 6-1 win at Eintracht Frankfurt in the opening game of the new Bundesliga season on “DAZN”.
Germany’s “Referee of the Year” was rarely seriously challenged in the noise of the Frankfurt Arena at his anniversary game. “We’re happy that the game went very well from our perspective, too,” said the 44-year-old. Aytekin was impressed by the high tempo of the game and mentioned above all the speed of the top dribblers Filip Kostic and Jamal Musiala.
Shortly before the start of the season, the German Football Association announced that Aytekin was ending his international career prematurely after twelve years and 100 appearances. But he continues to play in the Bundesliga and enjoyed the atmosphere in Frankfurt. “If you don’t feel like it, if you don’t feel passion and emotions, then you’re a robot,” said the world-class referee.
