The final matchday of the league phase of the Champions League taking place today, Wednesday, 28 January, will determine the teams that qualify directly for the round of 16 (places 1 through 8), as well as the 16 teams that will have to play a two-legged playoff round to reach the last 16, involving teams ranked 9th through 24th. One detail is crucial for those still fighting for qualification on the final day: yellow cards carry over from the league phase into the next round.
That means players who are one booking away from suspension must avoid a yellow card if they do not want to miss the round of 16 if they qualify directly, or the playoff round if they do not. Several high-profile players are affected, including Jude Bellingham at Real Madrid, and Fermín, Casadó and Gerard Martín at Barcelona. Atlético Madrid are in an even worse spot, with Barrios, Lenglet, Le Normand and both Simeones, father and son, on the list.
In total, 65 players across the tournament’s 36 teams are one yellow card away from suspension.
Players at risk heading into the final Champions League matchday
PSG: Nuno Mendes
Real Madrid: Bellingham
Manchester City: Savinho, O’Reilly
Bayern Munich: Olise
Liverpool: Bradley, Jones
Inter Milan: Bastoni, Lautaro Martínez, Mkhitaryan
Chelsea: Enzo Fernández, Andrey Santos
Borussia Dortmund: Adeyemi
Barcelona: Casadó, Fermín, Gerard Martín
Arsenal: Nørgaard
Bayer Leverkusen: Kofane
Atlético Madrid: Le Normand, Barrios, Lenglet, Giuliano, Simeone
Benfica: Lukebakio, Otamendi
Atalanta: De Roon, Musah
Villarreal: Renato Veiga, Pedraza, Marcelino
Juventus: Cabal, Cambiaso, Kelly, Locatelli
Eintracht Frankfurt: none
Club Brugge: Onyedika
Tottenham: Richarlison, Kolo Muani
PSV Eindhoven: Veerman
Ajax: Baas, Gaaei, Weghorst
Napoli: Rrahmani, Lang
Sporting CP: Araújo, Pedro Gonçalves, Luis Suárez
Olympiacos: Dani García, Taremi
Slavia Prague: Mbodji
Bodø/Glimt: Auklend, Berg
Marseille: Aguerd, Balerdi, De Zerbi
Copenhagen: Hatzidiakos, Marcos Joan, Neestrup
Monaco: Salisu, Golovin
Galatasaray: Buruk, Jakobs, Lemina, Davinson Sánchez
Union Saint-Gilloise: Burgess, Van de Perre, Mac Allister, Niang
Qarabag: Matheus, Medina
Athletic Club: none
Newcastle United: Joelinton, Burn, Malick Thiaw
Pafos: Oršić
Kairat: Arad, Da Costa, Tuyakbayev