£88m Newcastle United trio facing UEFA ban as two more Champions League games guaranteed

Newcastle United’s 3-0 win over PSV Eindhoven guarantees the club a top 24 finish and progress to the knockout stages of the Champions League with a game to spare.

The Magpies sit seventh in the table and head to holders Paris Saint-Germain looking to secure a top-eight finish that would see progress straight through to the last-16. Finishing ninth to 24th sees clubs enter a seeded two-legged knockout round play-off tie.

Due to Newcastle’s healthy goal difference, they are almost certain of at least being a seeded club in the knockout round play-off, which means a second-leg tie at home.

But Newcastle head into PSG and the knockout round matches with several players walking the UEFA disciplinary tightrope.

The Magpies were without defenders Fabian Schar, Dan Burn, Emil Krafth and Tino Livramento for the PSV match. While Burn is likely to be back for PSG, there is less certainty over Krafth while Schar and Livramento will almost certainly miss the next three Champions League matches due to injury.

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UEFA rules set to ban NUFC stars in Champions League

Newcastle have three players at risk of a Champions League ban heading into 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.

Should the Brazilian pick up another yellow card in Newcastle’s final league phase match, he will be banned for the first leg of Newcastle’s knockout match, whether it be a play-off or last-16 fixtures.

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.

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 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.

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.