Barca to appeal Suarez red

BARCELONA hope to reverse Luis Suarez’s suspension from the King’s Cup final after launching an appeal against the Uruguayan’s second booking in Tuesday night’s semi-final second leg against Atletico Madrid, the Spanish champions said yesterday.

The Cup holders said they would also appeal Sergio Busquets’ yellow card in the game, which finished 1-1 and sealed a 3-2 aggregate victory to put Barca in the final for the fourth successive year.

Busquets is not suspended for the final, while Barca are not appealing against the decision to send off defender Sergi Roberto, who is banned from the final, for receiving two yellow cards.

Referee Jesus Gil Manzano said in a report that he booked Suarez in the 90th minute for “striking his arm against a rival player in a reckless fashion while contesting the ball”, while Busquets was carded for “kicking the ball out of play when a free-kick was due to be taken, in a sign of disagreement”.

Barcelona said there was an extra ball on the pitch when Busquets booted the other one away.

Suarez, expressed disbelief at being sent off after the game, claiming Atletico midfielder Koke had exaggerated the impact of the incident in order to get him sent off.

“I’m laughing at that second yellow card, it’s not even a foul,” the striker told Gol TV after his first red card as a Barcelona player. “I did absolutely nothing. It was what he (Koke) wanted.”

Barca also said defender Javier Mascherano injured his hamstring in the game, making him a doubt for Saturday’s trip to Alaves. – Reuters