Arsenal needed a Leandro Trossard special to power their way to the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals after a nervy win over FC Porto. The dramatic game stretched all the way penalties, where David Raya’s heroics helped the Gunners progress.
However, there was a bit of comedy involved in the match as fans discovered a crazy similarity in the appearances of Tossard and the referee on the night Clement Turpin.
The French official did a considerably solid job in maintaining calmness in a heated encounter but his appearance ended up freaking out watchers.
Clement Turpin, a 41-year-old referee, has been a FIFA-licensed official since 2010. He normally officiates matches in Ligue 1, but his reliability and match awareness has helped him climb the ladder.
Turpin has officiated 41 Champions League matches in his career, with the biggest achievement being refereeing the 2021/22 Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid.
Leandro Trossard Meets His Lookalike on the Pitch
The game at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday (March 12) was the fifth time Clement officiated an Arsenal match.
There was some anticipation brewing before the game itself because of his intense similarity to Trossard. All that was proven to be right when the two interacted with each other at the Emirates Stadium, especially in the first half.
— Out Of Context Football (@nocontextfooty) March 12, 2024
After Clement blew the half-time whistle, he was approached by Leandro as the two made their way to the dugout.
The cameras got a perfect glimpse of them standing side-to-side, proving some fans’ theory that they look extremely similar. The similarities are strangely uncanny as they seem to have the exact features.
The duo appear to have the exact same nose shape, similar beady eyes and nearly similar facial structure/muscles too. Some fans managed to decipher that Turpin and Trossard even have a similar head shape and hairstyles.
The two are almost doppelgangers. There is this myth that everybody on earth has up to seven doppelgangers and in this case, it seems like two have been caught on live TV.
Are Clement Turpin and Leandro Trossard Related?
This freaky resemblance between Trossard and Turpin has attracted a lot of the dramatic speculation on Football Twitter. There are some who have branded the Frenchman as a long-lost brother of Leandro, or going on to say that he might even be his father.
The resemblance is uncanny between Leandro Trossard and referee Clément Turpin 😭
But there is no evidence at all to prove this baseless fan-talk.
Trossard and Turpin were not even born in the same country and have no affiliation with each other. Leandro was born and raised in Maasmechelen, Belgium and spent his entire career in his country before moving to Brighton in 2019.
Turpin is born and brought up in France, starting his referee career in the country before climbing the ranks to officiate major football matches.
Clement is also 12 years older than Trossard, and there is no evidence of the two ever interacting with each other before the Champions League clash at the Emirates Stadium.
