£88m Newcastle United trio facing UEFA ban in Champions League - one already set to miss PSG clash
PSG v Newcastle United: Eddie Howe’s side have several key players walking a suspension tightrope in the Champions League.
Newcastle United are back in Champions League action for their final league phase match on Wednesday at Paris Saint-Germain (8pm kick-off GMT).
The Magpies head into the game knowing a win would almost certainly secure a top-eight finish and progress straight through to the last-16 of the competition. Anything less and Newcastle would likely progress into the knockout-round play-offs as a seeded team.
Either way, Newcastle will be playing at least two more Champions League matches after PSG, regardless of the result at Parc des Princes. It comes after they secured an impressive 3-0 win over PSV Eindhoven at St James’ Park last week.
The Gazette has launched a new WhatsApp NUFC channel to bring the latest news, analysis and team & injury updates directly to your phone. Simply click this link to join our NUFC WhatsApp channel.
UEFA rules set to ban NUFC stars in Champions League
Newcastle have three players at risk of a Champions League ban ahead of the PSG match and subsequent knockout-round fixtures.
Joelinton is 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 five Champions League matches, scoring in the 2-0 win over Athletic Club in November.
But, the Brazilian will miss the match after being ruled out for ‘a few weeks’ with a groin injury in Sunday’s 2-0 defeat against Aston Villa in the Premier League.
But with two knockout fixtures to come after PSG, Joelinton could still face a potential ban should he return to action in time.
Malick Thiaw is also at risk of a ban having received his second booking in the competition against Bayer Leverkusen. The German’s last-man challenge was initially awarded as a penalty, though VAR intervention awarded a free-kick instead as a potential red card was avoided.
While Burn missed the PSV match due to injury, he is also one booking away from suspension and will be back in the squad against PSG.
The trio are at real risk of a ban given that the three yellow card threshold doesn’t expire at the end of the group phase but instead carries forward up until the quarter-final stage.
Bruno Guimaraes, Sandro Tonali, Aaron Ramsdale, Joe Willock and Anthony Gordon are the only other Magpies players who have been shown a yellow card in the Champions League this season. Those players would have to be booked a further two times in order to face a ban.
Red card rules
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.
However, in the event of a serious offence, the UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body is entitled to augment this punishment, including by extending it to other competitions or increasing the length of the ban in the competition.