Arsenal players will be desperate to fire the club into their first Champions League semi-final for 15 years when they take on Bayern Munich in tonight’s quarter-final first leg.
However, two members of Mikel Arteta’s squad will be walking a disciplinary tightrope, with a yellow card against the German giants this evening meaning they will miss the second leg through suspension.
Whilst high-flying Arsenal start the tie against Thomas Tuchel’s underperforming Bayern as heavy favourites, the absence of key personal in the return game would certainly be unhelpful to their chances of reaching the last four.
Let’s take a look at which Arsenal players are one booking away from missing next week’s match through a yellow card ban if they enter the referee’s notebook tonight.
Which Arsenal players are at risk of a yellow card suspension in the Champions League?
Kai Havertz and Declan Rice are the Arsenal players who will miss the second leg through suspension should they pick up a yellow card tonight.
Champions League rules state that a player will serve a one match ban if they pick up more than two yellow cards before the end of the Champions League quarter-final second leg.
Havertz picked up his two bookings in the two clashes against Porto in the Round of 16, whilst Rice was cautioned in the home group stage game against Sevilla as well as during the away leg against Porto.
Were Bayern Munich’s Alphonso Davies or Leon Goretzka to be yellow carded this evening, they too would be forced to sit out the second leg in Germany next Wednesday (April 17).
Yellow cards have become something of an issue for Havertz this term, in what has otherwise been an impressive first season in north London.
The former Chelsea star has picked up 11 bookings in all competitions this campaign, with Arteta admitting he is surprised by the German’s poor disciplinary record.
‘Yeah. If you told me another player [with that record], maybe not, but with him yeah,’ Arteta said.
‘I will have to go back and look at those yellow cards, but if they are yellow cards then we’ll have to improve because we don’t want our players having that many because we are the best in the league for that. It’s something to improve.’
Havertz has missed only one game for Arsenal this season – when he was banned for picking up five yellow cards – with Arsenal falling to a surprise 2-0 defeat at home to West Ham in the Premier League.
Arsenal actually boast the best displicainarly record in the Premier League, with only 46 yellow cards dished out to their players in 2023/24 – the lowest of any club in the competition.
When are yellow cards reset in the Champions League?
Yellow cards will be wiped after the conclusion of the quarter-finals.
This means that any players who pick up one yellow card apiece in the two semi-final legs will not be forced to miss the final through suspension, unless they pick up a red card in the second leg.
The rule change was introduced to make sure that players did not miss out on playing in the final due to yellow card accumulation.
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