Aston Villa and Paris Saint-Germain will be wary of any yellow cards specific players receive during their Champions League quarter-final due to the possibility of second-leg suspensions.
PSG are already well aware, with captain Marquinhos missing the first leg because of a one-match ban after accumulating three yellow cards during the competition this season. The first of those came during their maiden match of the league phase against Girona, with the latter two being in either leg of their round of 16 tie with Liverpool.
Diego Carlos is the only Villa player to serve such a suspension in the Champions League this season. The departing defender missed their penultimate league phase game in Monaco days before becoming a Fenerbache player.
However, as many as four current Villa players now face being unavailable for the return leg at Villa Park. They are Axel Disasi, Boubacar Kamara, Lucas Digne and Marcus Rashford; for PSG, it is Fabian Ruiz and Ousmane Dembele.
Digne was booked in back-to-back league phase matches against RB Leipzig and Monaco, with the left-back walking this tightrope ever since. Kamara’s two late yellow cards during away defeats to Club Brugge and the Monegasques could now prove costly, combined with another caution.
Villa, meanwhile, would be made to pay for digressions Disasi and Rashford committed during their time at parent clubs Chelsea and Manchester United last year. The former went into the book in both the Blues’ first two Conference League league phase matches, with the latter doing likewise during United’s Europa League campaign.
But, if the quartet make it through both ties against PSG unscathed, they would no longer be at risk of suspension should Villa progress.
As per Article 63.04 of the UEFA Champions League Regulations, “all yellow cards expire on completion of the quarter-finals. They are not carried forward to the semi-finals.”
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