Though both Manchester United and Chelsea lost out in their Champions League matches on Wednesday night, Select Group referee Graham Barber, was happy with his performance and that of his team of officials. Alongside Barber in the Amsterdam Arena, where Ajax beat Belgium outfit Brugge 2-0, were James Devine, David Bryan, Mike Dean, and the Hertfordshire official felt everything went well.

"The game was very successful for us. It was a very important match for both sides because of their first results and there was a capacity crowd of very fervent Dutch people inside the stadium," he said.

"One of the key decisions of the night was a question of a possible offside for Ajax's second goal, which many people inside the stadium thought was offside.

"When we went back and looked at the replays on TV afterwards though, Dave Bryan, the assistant referee, was absolutely correct in not putting the flag up - it was a good goal.

"He was highly praised for that decision and things like that are very important because they reflect well, not only on Dave as an individual, but the whole team of officials.

"There is a lot of respect for English referees in Europe, with three of us in the top group, and in general when we arrive in other countries people feel very comfortable that an English referee has been appointed to their game."

In Spain, Mike Riley was in the middle as Celta Vigo and Milan played out a 0-0 draw at the Balaidos, and he too was pleased as his team of Dave Babski, Glenn Turner and Uriah Rennie performed well.

Mike Riley had a night in the Balaidos"The pleasing thing from my point of view was the team-work from all four officials. The players respected what all four of us did because we worked as a unit," explained Riley, who is realising just how well respected England officials are overseas.

"You can tell by the number of appointments we've been given recently, which has helped raise the profile of English referees in Europe, just how we are regarded on the continent and it's very good for our game."

Meanwhile, at Soho Square, The FA's Head of Refereeing John Baker was full of praise for our men after a successful night: "The referees are earning themselves a very good reputation abroad," he said.

"Over the last 12 months the number of appointments in European competitions has grown immensely. Credit must go to our ten male and one female FIFA referees who achieve much acknowledgement in Europe."