February 19, (THEWILL) – Kyle Walker, Manchester City defender, will be suspended for the club’s next two Champions League matches, after the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) rejected the club’s appeal on Friday.
The 31-year-old received a straight red card for a kick on Leipzig’s Andre Silva during City’s Champions League loss to the Germans. He was therefore suspended for the following three European matches for City, including this week’s 5-0 win over Sporting in Lisbon.
Walker will miss the second leg of the tie against Sporting as well as the first leg of the quarter-final if City advances.
In their Friday drop, UEFA delivered terrible news to a number of other players. Yannick Carrasco, an Atletico Madrid winger, will also serve a three-match suspension after raising his hands against Otavio during a tense 3-1 win over Porto in December.
Atletico Madrid will play Manchester United in the first leg of their last-16 tie next week, with Carrasco ruled out of both games.
Wendell, a Porto defender who was sent off in the same game for seeming to strike Matheus Cunha with his elbow, will suffer a three-game suspension, according to UEFA.
Porto was relegated to the Europa League after finishing third in their group behind Liverpool and Atletico Madrid. On Thursday, the Portuguese team defeated Lazio 2-1 at home in the first leg of the elimination round play-off.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
