Champions League suspension list: Players banned, at risk in quarterfinals

With Europe’s premier club competition down to its final eight, the margin for error has never been slimmer. As Real Madrid prepare to face Bayern Munich and Arsenal chase a maiden continental crown, the threat of suspension looms as large as any opponent.

UEFA regulations state that any player who accumulates three yellow cards that do not result in a red is automatically banned for the next match. Once that one-game sanction is served, the disciplinary clock keeps ticking: a further suspension is triggered at every odd-numbered caution thereafter—five, seven, nine and so on. All bookings picked up during the league phase were carried into the playoffs and remain on a player’s record until the conclusion of the quarterfinals.

The stakes are particularly acute in the second-leg ties. Should a player receive his third, fifth, seventh or higher odd-numbered caution in that match, he will be forced to sit out the opening leg of the semifinal. After the quarterfinal stage, however, the slate is wiped clean. From the semifinals onward, only a straight red card or two yellows in a single game can trigger a ban, ensuring that no player can miss the final through cumulative cautions. The only route to a final-day suspension is a sending-off in the semifinal itself.

UEFA has confirmed that the suspension state of play will be updated tie-by-tie ahead of the second-leg encounters, leaving coaches to weigh the risk of rotation against the reward of progression.