Bellingham on alert: 65 players at risk

The final matchday of the league phase of the Champions League taking place today, Wednesday, 28 January, will determine the teams that qualify directly for the round of 16 (places 1 through 8), as well as the 16 teams that will have to play a two-legged playoff round to reach the last 16, involving teams ranked 9th through 24th. One detail is crucial for those still fighting for qualification on the final day: yellow cards carry over from the league phase into the next round.

That means players who are one booking away from suspension must avoid a yellow card if they do not want to miss the round of 16 if they qualify directly, or the playoff round if they do not. Several high-profile players are affected, including Jude Bellingham at Real Madrid, and Fermín, Casadó and Gerard Martín at Barcelona. Atlético Madrid are in an even worse spot, with Barrios, Lenglet, Le Normand and both Simeones, father and son, on the list.

In total, 65 players across the tournament’s 36 teams are one yellow card away from suspension.

Players at risk heading into the final Champions League matchday

PSG: Nuno Mendes

Real Madrid: Bellingham

Manchester City: Savinho, O’Reilly

Bayern Munich: Olise

Liverpool: Bradley, Jones

Inter Milan: Bastoni, Lautaro Martínez, Mkhitaryan

Chelsea: Enzo Fernández, Andrey Santos

Borussia Dortmund: Adeyemi

Barcelona: Casadó, Fermín, Gerard Martín

Arsenal: Nørgaard

Bayer Leverkusen: Kofane

Atlético Madrid: Le Normand, Barrios, Lenglet, Giuliano, Simeone

Benfica: Lukebakio, Otamendi

Atalanta: De Roon, Musah

Villarreal: Renato Veiga, Pedraza, Marcelino

Juventus: Cabal, Cambiaso, Kelly, Locatelli

Eintracht Frankfurt: none

Club Brugge: Onyedika

Tottenham: Richarlison, Kolo Muani

PSV Eindhoven: Veerman

Ajax: Baas, Gaaei, Weghorst

Napoli: Rrahmani, Lang

Sporting CP: Araújo, Pedro Gonçalves, Luis Suárez

Olympiacos: Dani García, Taremi

Slavia Prague: Mbodji

Bodø/Glimt: Auklend, Berg

Marseille: Aguerd, Balerdi, De Zerbi

Copenhagen: Hatzidiakos, Marcos Joan, Neestrup

Monaco: Salisu, Golovin

Galatasaray: Buruk, Jakobs, Lemina, Davinson Sánchez

Union Saint-Gilloise: Burgess, Van de Perre, Mac Allister, Niang

Qarabag: Matheus, Medina

Athletic Club: none

Newcastle United: Joelinton, Burn, Malick Thiaw

Pafos: Oršić

Kairat: Arad, Da Costa, Tuyakbayev

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