Malick Thiaw facing UEFA ban after Newcastle United Champions League incident v Bayer Leverkusen
Newcastle United now have three players at risk of a Champions League ban heading into their final two group phase matches.
Newcastle United drew 2-2 at Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League on Wednesday night after conceding another late goal.
A Bruno Guimaraes own goal gave Leverkusen the lead at the BayArena before Anthony Gordon equalised from the penalty spot in the second half. Substitute Lewis Miley put The Magpies 2-1 up heading into the closing stages before Alejandro Grimaldo scored an 88th-minute equaliser as the spoils were shared.
The point will likely be enough for Newcastle to secure progress through to the next stage of the competition but dents their chances of progressing straight through to the last-16 via a top eight finish.
Eddie Howe’s side also have several players walking a disciplinary tightrope ahead of their remaining Champions League matches.
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NUFC trio at risk of Champions League ban
Malick Thiaw is the latest Newcastle player to be at risk of a Champions League ban after picking up his second booking in the competition this season.
At 1-0 to Leverkusen, things looked to have gone from bad to worse for Newcastle when Thiaw brought down Patrik Schick on the edge of the box. Referee Serdar Gözübüyük pointed straight to the penalty spot and awarded Thiaw a yellow card before a VAR check confirmed the original contact occured outside the penalty area.
Newcastle escaped potential disaster with Thiaw avoiding a sending off and Leverkusen only being awarded a free-kick, which came to nothing.
Any player booked three times in the Champions League prior to the semi-final stage is handed an automatic one-match ban. Because of this, Thiaw is likely to be handed a ban should Newcastle progress further in the competition.
It leaves Thiaw just one booking away from suspension heading into Newcastle’s final two group phase matches against PSV Eindhoven and Paris Saint-Germain.
Joelinton is also just one booking away from a ban having been booked in Newcastle’s opening two group phase matches. The Brazilian has avoided a booking in each of United’s last four Champions League matches, scoring in the 2-0 win over Athletic Club last month.
Joelinton is also one booking away from suspension in the Carabao Cup, but has only been booked three times in the Premier League so far. In order to be banned in the Premier League, Joelinton would have to pick up a further two bookings before matchday 20.
Dan Burn is also at risk of a ban having been shown his second booking in the competition against Marseille.
All yellow cards expire on completion of the quarter-finals and are not carried forward to the semi-finals.
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Other Newcastle United players facing potential bans?
Aaron Ramsdale, Joe Willock and Anthony Gordon are the only other Newcastle players who have been shown yellow cards in the Champions League this season. The trio would have to be booked a further two times in order to face a ban.
The only exception is if they were to be shown a red card, as is the same with any player.
Article 63.01 of the UEFA Champions League regulations states that a red card in the Champions League is an automatic one-match suspension in that competition and does not carry over into other competitions.