Newcastle United trio Joelinton, Dan Burn and Malick Thiaw are all at risk of a Champions League ban.placeholder image
Newcastle United trio Joelinton, Dan Burn and Malick Thiaw are all at risk of a Champions League ban. | Getty
Newcastle United take on Qarabag in the play-off round of the Champions League - and three players are at risk of a ban.
Newcastle United are back in Champions League action - and while progression is the dream ticket against Qarabag, three Magpies’ stars need to tread carefully as they walk a disciplinary tightrope.
Eddie Howe’s men take on the Baku outfit in the knockout round play-off first leg in Azerbaijan on Wednesday night (5:45pm kick-off GMT).
It’s the first knockout round match Newcastle have played in the Champions League having been knocked out in the group stage in 2023 and 1998 and the second group stage in 2003.
Newcastle will be hoping to put themselves in a strong position heading into next week’s second leg at St James’ Park as they look to reach the last-16 of the competition.
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Newcastle have three players at risk of a Champions League ban, as things stand.
Joelinton is just one yellow away from a ban, he was booked in Newcastle’s opening two group games. He’s so far avoided a booking in United’s last five Champions League matches. The midfielder has been out of action in recent weeks due to a groin injury and is a doubt for the Qarabag match.
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.
Dan Burn is also one booking away from a suspension. He was booked on the Champions League opening night v Barcelona, and then again in the 2-1 defeat in Marseille.
The trio are at 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. That’s potentially four more games they need to avoid a yellow. should the Magpies progress.
Bruno Guimaraes, Sandro Tonali, Aaron Ramsdale, Joe Willock, Anthony Elanga and Anthony Gordon are the only other Magpies players who have been shown a yellow card in the Champions League this season. Those players are two yellows from 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.
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