Kyle Walker, a Manchester City defender, has been given a three-match Champions League suspension for ‘assault’ ahead of the knockout stages.
During City’s 2-1 dead-rubber defeat in Germany at the start of December, the right-back was sent off for petulantly kicking out at RB Leipzig striker Andre Silva late in the game.
Walker was suspended for both legs of the last-16 tie against Sporting Lisbon by UEFA’s disciplinary board on Tuesday.
Walker received an automatic one-game suspension, but each disciplinary case is reviewed by UEFA, who doubled his punishment for what the rules define as “violence.”
City will travel to Lisbon on February 15 to try to improve on their performance in the Champions League final last season, when they were defeated by Chelsea.
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Walker’s dismissal was deemed ‘unnecessary’ by Pep Guardiola, who added that he hoped the defender would ‘learn’ from his transgression.
‘My red card against Leipzig was very bad judgment and a stupid error that a 31-year-old shouldn’t be making with the amount of games that I’ve played,’ Walker said last week.
‘I’m human, I make mistakes and I’m learning from that and will bounce back. Hopefully my performances between now and the end of the season can justify that and I’m picking up some silverware.’
Joao Cancelo and Oleksandr Zinchenko are City’s potential fullbacks for the European matches due to the England international’s unavailability.
