Arsenal international suspended for key Argentina clash | OneFootball

Gabriel Magalhaes helped Brazil to a win over Colombia on Thursday night, but the Arsenal defender is now suspended for the upcoming fixture against Argentina.

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For the most part, Thursday night was a very positive one for fans of Brazil. Facing a tough opponent in Colombia, the team came out 2-1 winners thanks to a penalty from Raphinha and a late deflected effort from distance from Vinicius Junior.

Arsenal’s Gabriel Magalhaes can also largely be pleased with his contributions, winning 100% of his five aerial duels, completing 97% of his passes, making three clearances, two interceptions, and blocking one shot.

The defender also had no part in Colombia’s equaliser, with the goal coming from Luis Diaz on the other side of the defence. Yet a yellow card just before half time may come back to haunt the Arsenal man.

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With the clock running down in first-half injury time, Gabriel picked up a booking for a tough tackle, his second yellow card of qualification.

Despite only receiving two yellows in seven full 90s, the rules state that the centre-back will now serve a one-game ban. As a result, he’ll miss Tuesday night’s game away to Argentina (00:00 GMT on Wednesday back in the UK).

Gabriel isn’t the first to serve a yellow-card suspension for Brazil this season, with Lucas Paqueta and Vanderson also missing matches earlier in the qualifying process. But the timing isn’t great, with Argentina the team to beat in the CONMEBOL qualifiers so far.

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As it stands, Argentina are top of the qualification table with 25 points from 12 games, four points clear of Brazil despite playing one game fewer.

If Brazil want to have any hope of finishing top, they’ll need to beat Argentina in midweek. But they’ll have to do it without Gabriel.

For the record, both teams are very likely to qualify for the World Cup next year. The top six teams qualify automatically, with the team in seventh getting the chance to qualify through the inter-confederation play-offs.

With only five or six games to go and a nine-point lead on eighth place, it would be a shock if Brazil don’t make it from here. Even so, there’s always pride at stake when Brazil and Argentina face each other.