Duhamel passed his refereeing badge in 1984, and has been officiating in international games since 1999. He has refereed star sides such as Barcelona, Chelsea, Bayern Munich and even Valencia.

An interesting connection with Duhamel is that he was the referee for the Novemeber 2002, Lille - FC Nantes fixture, becoming the first official to be 'wired up' so that he could communicate with his assistant referee's for the ninety minutes.

Another interesting feature of the Europa league group stage, is that the referee will have four assistants helping him, with an extra positioned behind each goal. The fourth match official will also assist on the touchline. All six are from France. 

(fotó: refereetip.blogspot.hu)