Inter will be hoping the midfielder Nicolo Barella is only suspended for one game rather than two in the Champions League following his red card against Real Madrid yesterday evening.
This according to today’s print edition of Milan-based newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, who report that the 24-year-old could be suspended for both of the Nerazzurri’s round of sixteen matches depending on the report of referee Felix Brych.
Barella was shown a straight red during the second half at the Bernabeu, after he reacted to a rough shoulder-to-shoulder challenge by Real defender Eder Militao by hitting out at the Brazilian’s calf.
The decision was clearly correct and there is no chance of the Nerazzurri appealing the decision for at least the first leg of the tie against whoever their first opponent of the knockouts proves to be.
However, they will have to await Brych’s final report on the match, on which the full nature of the suspension will be based.
Depending on what the German referee writes in his report, Barella could be handed a two-match ban for violent conduct, something which the Nerazzurri will hoping the key midfielder avoids.
