Which Barcelona players are a yellow card away from a Champions League suspension against PSG?
After a turbulent few months, things have gone relatively smoothy for Barcelona since head coach Xavi Hernández announced he would be stepping down at the end of season. Although Real Madrid will almost certainly win LaLiga, Barça are unbeaten in 11 matches, a run that has taken them through to a Champions League quarter-final against Paris Saint-Germain.
Kylian Mbappé the star of last Barça – PSG tie in UCL
The last-eight clash gets underway at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday, with the Catalans out for revenge following their last European tie against the French champions.
In the 2020/21 season, Lionel Messi’s last in Spain, Barcelona were comfortably beaten 5-2 on aggregate by PSG, the last team to defeat them in the Champions League knockout rounds. The Argentine scored both of Barça’s goals but was completely overshadowed by future teammate Kylian Mbappé, who netted a hat-trick in a 4-1 win at Camp Nou and a penalty in a 1-1 draw in Paris.
Could the France captain torment La Blaugrana once again this week and next…and perhaps from next season onwards with Madrid?
Seven Barcelona players at risk of a suspension
Barcelona play their first Champions League quarter-final in four years in the French capital on Wednesday, but will they be forced to manage the game with one eye on the return leg on Catalonia?
No fewer than seven players will miss next week’s second leg if they pick up a yellow card on Wednesday: Andreas Christensen, Frenkie De Jong, Ferran Torres, João Félix, Ronald Araújo, Sergi Roberto and Lamine Yamal.
Christensen, Araújo and Yamal look set to play from the off, while de Jong could be in the team too if Xavi deems him to have fully recovered from an ankle sprain. Ferran Torres, Félix and Roberto may come off the bench at some stage, so all seven are likely to be involved in one way or another.
What are the suspension rules in the Champions League?
The good news for them is that every player left in the competition will have their disciplinary record reset after the quarter-finals, although they could still be banned for playing in the first leg of the semi-finals.
Up until the end of the last eight, players who receive three yellow cards must serve a one-match suspension, followed by an additional one-game ban if they then reach an odd number of bookings (five, seven etc).
That would run over into the semi-finals if they were shown their third (or fifth, or seventh) yellow card in the second leg of the quarter-finals. However, with everybody starting from scratch in the last four, it is impossible for players to miss the Champions League final due to an accumulation of bookings.
