There are few matches of greater importance in club football than the suffocating tension of a two-legged UEFA Champions League semi-final.
This season, 14-time winners Real Madrid take on European heavyweights Bayern Munich, while Paris Saint-Germain’s continued quest for a first Champions League crown brings them face to face with Bayern’s counterparts in the Bundesliga, Borussia Dortmund.
PSG’s enthralling quarter-final against Barcelona turned decisively in their favor when Ronald Araujo was sent off by Xavi’s team. There is a good chance that the players will buckle under pressure or lose their cool in the semi-finals and the referees and their teams are in for four difficult nights.
But what are the suspension rules in UEFA competitions and what is the risk of players helping their team reach the final at Wembley and being forced to watch from the sidelines?
Yellow cards in the UEFA Champions League: How many warnings lead to a suspension?
For some generations of English football fans, and for many others around the world, the specter of a yellow card suspension brings to mind one man. Pablo Gascoigne.
England’s emerging superstar had done much to lead Bobby Robson’s Three Lions to the semi-finals of the 1990 World Cup, where they took West Germany to extra time. With the score tied 1-1, Gascoigne launched a late charge on Thomas Berthold and received a yellow card that would keep him out of the final if his team got there. Gazza burst into tears and the hydraulics came back on when England lost on penalties.
In the Champions League, players receive a one-match suspension after receiving three cards that do not result in a red card. For example, if a player is sent off for two bookable offenses and also receives a yellow card in a subsequent match, this will not result in another suspension.
There are also one-match suspensions for each subsequent odd booking after three, but a player will most likely be told by his coach to calm down and behave before he can rack up five, seven or nine bookings in the same campaign. of the Champions League.
Are reservations “cleared” after the UEFA Champions League group stage?
It is common for competitions to have amnesties regarding yellow card suspensions, so that the prospect of a ban does not hang over a player for an excessively long period of time.
However, there is no clean slate after the group stage and bookings during the round-robin stage can come back to haunt players in later rounds.
A consequence of this is that Real Madrid will be without experienced right-back Dani Carvajal for the first leg against Bayern after receiving a third yellow card of the competition during the 1-1 draw against Manchester City at the Etihad. Stadium. His teammate Auerelin Tchouameni missed that match after receiving a third yellow card in the Champions League at the Santiago Bernabéu.
Neither Bayern nor PSG nor Dortmund have suspension concerns.
How can a player be suspended for the UEFA Champions League final?
Ousmane Dembélé, Lucas Hernández, Milan Skriniar, Manuel Ugarte, Vitinho, Leon Goretzka, Sasha Boye, Jude Bellingham, Eduardo Camavinga, Vinicius Jr, Emre Can, Mats Hummels and Ian Maatsen successfully walked the disciplinary tightrope during the second legs of their teams. ‘ Triumphs in the quarterfinals.
Fortunately for them, all players start the semi-finals with a clean slate, as the yellow card count is cleared after the quarters.
In short, this means that no one will make a Gazza and will be excluded from the final due to a caution. The only way a player can be suspended from the Champions League final is if he is sent off in the second leg of the semi-final or receives a direct red card in the first leg that the Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body UEFA considers that he deserves a more severe punishment. than a ban on a game.
