Is Barcelona’s Ronald Araújo suspended after PSG red card? Can he play in El Clásico?

The second leg of the Champions League quarter-final tie against Paris Saint-Germain was going to plan for Barcelona up until Ronald Araújo was sent off in the 29th minute. The Catalans were 1-0 up on the night and 4-2 ahead on aggregate but conceded four times without the Uruguayan, suffering a hugely damaging defeat five days before El Clásico against Real Madrid in LaLiga.

Why was Araújo sent off against PSG? What suspension will he serve?

Araújo was shown a straight red card by referee István Kovács for a foul on Bradley Barcola, who was closing in on the penalty area having being played through on goal. The match official ruled the centre-back had denied a clear goal-scoring chance, resulting in the sending-off.

With Barça still ahead in the tie at that point, they knew Araújo would miss the first leg of a potential semi-final, with a straight red card incurring an immediate one-match ban in the next Game in an official UEFA comPetition.

“As a rule, a player or a team official sent off from the field of play and/or its immediate surrounds, including the technical area, is automatically suspended for the next match in a UEFA club comPetition (i.e. UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Europa Conference League or UEFA Super Cup),” reads Article 52 of the UEFA Champions League regulations.

Can Araújo play for Barcelona against Real Madrid?

In ordinary circumstances, red cards in the Champions League (or Europa League or Europa Conference League) do not carry over to domestic competitions, which means Araújo will be able to line up against Real Madrid in El Clásico on Sunday (21 April).

But the same Article 52 also states that, “In case of serious offences, the UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body is entitled to augment this punishment, including by extending it to other comPetitions”.

What hand gesture did Araújo make after being sent off against PSG?

There have been suggestions that, following his red card, Araújo made a hand gesture, used mostly in South America, for stealing, seemingly implying Barcelona had been robbed by the match officials. Whether UEFA will interpret it that way and act on the incident, however, remains to be seen.

When will Araújo serve his suspension?

As it stands, Araújo will be expected to serve a one-match suspension in his next match in a UEFA competition, which will likely come in next season’s Champions League.

The regulations state that “cautions and pending yellow-card suspensions from the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Europa League or the UEFA Europa Conference League expire at the end of the season,” but make no mention of red cards either way.

However, we have seen past examples of a red-card suspension being carried forward to the following season (Feyenoord’s Santi Giménez most recently), which should be Araújo’s fate. Unless, that is, UEFA decide he should be further punished.