Markovic Banned for Four Europa League Matches by UEFA

With the Europa League round of 32 kicking off on Thursday, UEFA have released their disciplinary list for all the clubs in the competition, and with it comes news Lazar Markovic is slated to miss the next four matches due to his red card against FC Basel. This is a surprise given the theatrical reaction of Basel’s Behrang Safari to Markovic’s outstretched arm, which it was not clear had even touched the Basel winger’s face.

UEFA had further not been expected to rule on the severity of his suspension until later in the week. In Europe, appeals can only be launched on the grounds of mistaken identity, and so Markovic was always set to miss at least one match, meaning their was no rush to pass judgement on his case. However, it appears now that judgement has been made by UEFA, and despite the questionable nature of the foul, an extended punishment has been handed out.

The UEFA disciplinary list also shows that Alberto Moreno, with two yellow cards in the Champions League group stages, is one card away from sitting out a match. Mario Balotelli, Steven Gerrard, Dejan Lovren, Lucas Leiva, Martin Skrtel, and Raheem Sterling are all on one yellow apiece and so would sit out a match if they receive two more yellows at some stage in the Europa League.

Unlike national-level competitions such as the World Cup and Euros, where any yellows a player has picked up are wiped out after the quarter-finals, UEFA’s two club competitions do not offer a yellow card amnesty at any point.

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