THE REFEREE for the Champions League Final has become a viral sensation after his bizarre pre-match routine was revealed in never-seen-before footage.
Manchester City secured the Treble by beating Inter Milan in the showpiece on June 10 in Istanbul.
Rodri scored the only goal of the game as Pep Guardiola ended a 12-year wait to get his hands on the trophy for a third time.
The official for that clash was Polish whistler Szymon Marciniak.
And he will be waking up to find himself trending on Twitter after the behind-the-scenes video was shared online.
During the footage, Marciniak is spotted showing himself yellow cards in the mirror ahead of the kick-off inside the bowels of the Ataturk Stadium.
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He marches forward while pulling the card out of his pocket and carefully raises it up.
Supporters could not believe what they were watching and quickly took to social media to troll him.
One fan reacted by commenting: “Fantastic new video by Manchester City behind the scenes at the Champions League final, however my highlight is the referee warming up by practicing his yellow card technique.”
Another wrote: “I actually can’t believe that refs practice showing the card in front of a mirror.”
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A fellow fan tweeted: “Can’t believe the ref is practicing carding technique in changing room.”
As another described it as being completely “unbelievable”.
It comes after the 42-year-old kept his role as Champions League final referee after Uefa probed alleged links with a far-right politician.
Polish anti-racism group Never Again claimed that Marciniak promoted and even participated in an event organised by Slawomir Mentzen.
Mentzen, 36, is leader of Poland's Confederation Party – which uses a vile slogan denouncing Jewish and gay people – in addition to standing against abortion, taxes and the EU.
Following their probe, Uefa elected to keep Marciniak on as Champions League final ref after receiving a lengthy apology and clarification.
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