Cubarsí joins Guardiola and Piqué in unwanted Barcelona Champions League history

Pau Cubarsí etched his name into an unwanted chapter of FC Barcelona history on 8 April 2026, becoming the latest player to be sent off in the first half of a Champions League match.

The teenage centre-back was dismissed following a VAR review against Atlético Madrid, leaving his teammates with a numerical disadvantage in the high-stakes knockout clash. And immediately afterwards, things got worse as Julian Álvarez scored a peach of a free kick.

In seeing red, Cubarsí joins a short but notable list of Barça players who suffered early exits on Europe’s biggest stage. Pep Guardiola was the first in 1998, followed by Gerard Piqué in 2017. More recently, defensive teammates have dominated the trend: Ronald Araújo was sent off twice across 2024 and 2025, while Eric García also saw red in 2024.

The 19-year-old’s dismissal will make the headlines if it can in any way be linked to Barcelona not making it through to the semi-finals. But there’s a lot of football still to be played across the two legs.

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