Yellow alert ahead of Atlético-Real Madrid Champions League clash

On Wednesday 12 March, Real Madrid put everything on the line at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano in the second leg of their Champions League round-of-16 tie against Atlético Madrid. They will be boosted by the return of Jude Bellingham, who missed the first Euroderbi due to suspension after picking up his third yellow card of the tournament against Manchester City. Now cleared to play, Bellingham is available – but five other teammates who featured in the first leg remain one booking away from missing a possible quarter-final.

Antonio Rüdiger, Aurélien Tchouaméni, Eduardo Camavinga, Luka Modric and Endrick will all miss the next round if they are shown a yellow card on Wednesday. Each of them is currently sitting on two yellows and would hit the suspension threshold with one more. The same risk applies to Carlo Ancelotti, who has also been booked twice — against Stuttgart and Brest. There is even a seventh player, Éder Militão, on a caution, though he has already been ruled out with injury.

• Meet Szymon Marciniak, the referee for the UCL Derbi part 2

Relive the first leg:

How do yellow card suspensions work in the Champions League?

UEFA rules, which apply to both the Europa League and the Conference League as well, state that players are suspended for one match once they receive their third yellow card of the season. This rule has already hit Lucas Vázquez (vs. Salzburg), Vinicius (vs. Brest), and Bellingham (vs. Atlético) — all of whom have served one-game bans for reaching that limit.

The system works in cycles: players are suspended after their third, fifth, seventh, and ninth yellow cards. The rule is enforced until the quarter-finals, but if a player picks up their third yellow in the second leg of the quarters and their team progresses, the suspension carries over to the semifinal first leg.

Although this regulation has been in place for several seasons, the expanded Champions League format, which will see Madrid needing to play four extra games compared to last year to win the title, makes these disciplinary cycles more impactful.

Real Madrid among the most booked

Real Madrid are currently the second most booked team in this season’s Champions League last 16, tied with Benfica, who went out of the tournament last night against Barça. Madrid players have picked up 26 yellow cards in 11 matches. Bologna, eliminated in the league phase, lead the way with 28 bookings in eight games. Meanwhile, Young Boys (24) and Girona (23) bowed out of the tournament with even higher averages of cards per match than Madrid.

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