News

How many games Robert Lewandowski is expected to miss following Barcelona red card

The Barcelona striker saw red in the final La Liga game before the World Cup break


La Liga have informed Barcelona that Robert Lewandowski has been banned for three games following his red card against AS Osasuna in their final La Liga outing ahead of the World Cup break.

The Polish striker, who has scored 13 times in 14 La Liga outings for the Blaugrana since his summer move to the Camp Nou, received his marching orders for two first half yellow cards, with the second coming after just half an hour.

And, though Barcelona went on to win the game 1-0, it was feared at the time that the second yellow card, handed out for perceived violent conduct, could lead to longer than just a game on the sidelines.

And La Liga subsequently confirmed those fears, issuing the veteran marksman with a three-game ban for his actions, though it is something that Barcelona intend to appeal.

With the striker now on World Cup duty with Poland, the suspension will not come into play for another month, but it means that Barcelona will be without the services of their no.9 for the upcoming derby with Espanyol on New Year’s Eve, as well as games against Atletico Madrid and Real Betis.

It also means that, should Poland fail to qualify from the group stage, where they have been drawn with Argentina, Mexico and Saudi Arabia, the striker will go just shy of two months without seeing any competitive action, though he will have several games to rebuild his match sharpness ahead of the Europa League clashes with Manchester United.

In his stead, Barca could turn to Memphis Depay, while Ferran Torres or Raphinha could also be deployed as a false 9 should the Blaugrana not be able to sign a replacement in January.

Read more:

2022 World Cup | Five players Liverpool should monitor in Qatar ahead of January move

Cristiano Ronaldo and Joao Cancelo incident explained

Ben Browning

Ben Browning

Football writer and analyst. Long-time writer of all things Arsenal and avid watcher of European football. Happy to discuss all things football over on Twitter.


Related Content