Barcelona-Madrid: Casemiro at risk of missing Clásico

Casemiro received his fourth yellow card of the season in Real Madrid’s 4-2 win over Granada yesterday and now runs the risk of being suspended for El Clásico against Barcelona on October 26.

A harsh challenge on Yangel Herrera in the 43rd minute saw the Brazilian midfielder pick up the first yellow of the game. And it could have been worse for the Madrid player, considering a similarly rough challenge 14 minutes earlier on Ramon Azeez had Granada players appealing for him to go in referee Jaima Latre’s book.

Later, Casemiro was involved in two incidents in the second half that could have also led to another card. In the 53rd minute, the Sao Paulo-born midfielder booted the ball away from the Madrid area after play had been stopped, again prompting Granada players to demand action from the referee. Three minutes later, he was lucky to walk away without a card after his reaction to a tough challenge from behind by Roberto Soldado, after which the Granada striker went in the book.

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Casemiro stats: Madrid midfielder is LaLiga's worst offender

Interestingly, Casemiro committed two fouls for every four he was subjected to during the game. According to Opta, he has committed the most fouls in LaLiga so far this season with 16, an average of two per game, but is also the player who has drawn the most fouls from opponents with 20 (2.5-per-game average). His yellow card against Granada brings his tally to four in eight games, an average of two per game.

Considering his record so far this season, the 27-year-old runs a serious risk of picking up another card against Mallorca on October 19, which would see him miss out on El Clásico seven days later. As such, Zinedine Zidane will have to decide whether or not to start his first-choice pivot, who has played 690 of the 720 minutes in LaLiga this season, against ‎Los Bermellones in two weeks’ time.