Arsenal take on Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-final next week but they could come up against the reigning champions without some of their star players. Los Blancos booked their spot in the next round against the Gunners after beating their city rivals Atletico Madrid on penalties.
The encounter was overshadowed by controversy after Julian Alvarez was ruled to have double-kicked his spot-kick which resulted in an automatic miss during the shootout. Former Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger scored the decisive effort from 12 yards to send Carlo Ancelotti's side through but the post-match celebrations could have landed some of them in hot-water.
The Guardian reported last week that UEFA have opened an investigation into a possible breach of regulations by several Madrid players as part of their celebrations. Kylian Mbappe, Vincius Junior, Dani Ceballos and Antonio Rudiger are among those at the centre of the inquiry.
According to reports in Spain, there were complaints from Atletico and as a result, proceedings have been logged.
In a statement, the governing body said: "A UEFA Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector has been appointed to investigate allegations of indecent conduct by Real Madrid CF players (Antonio Rudiger, Kylian Mbappe, Daniel Ceballos Fernandez and Vinicius Junior) during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 match between Club Atlético de Madrid and Real Madrid CF on 12 March 2025.”
It has been accused that Vinicius took several 'shots' at supporters during and after the match, while it was picked up on television cameras that Rudiger made throat-cutting gestures with further allegations of crotch-grabbing from Mbappe and the former Arsenal loanee 'cutting his sleeves' as an act of provocation.
But it has been suggested that UEFA is unable to provide information on how long the process will take to conclude and possible sanctions.
"We believe everything was correct and we hope UEFA makes a decision, but we trust that everything will end well," Ancelotti told reporters. "We are confident in UEFA's verdict as the players had just celebrated, that's it, we wait for verdict, but our players didn't do anything wrong."