Barcelona to appeal yellow cards against Leganés | OneFootball

Generally speaking, it was a good weekend for Barcelona in La Liga.

The Catalans produced a fairly comfortable 3-0 win over Leganés, while title rivals Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid played out a 0-0 draw.

The results mean that Ernesto Valverde’s side are now 10 points clear of their rivals from the capital in the table, although Valencia, in second place, lie just four points back.

As it happens, Barça play Valencia on Sunday in what is now a massive top-of-the-table clash.

That is undoubtedly a big reason why they have taken the unusual step of appealing two yellow cards issued in the match against Leganés.

The cards in question were handed to Luis Suárez and Gerard Piqué.

Suárez, who scored twice in the win, was booked for an interaction with the Leganés goalkeeper, Ivan Cuellar, but it is Piqué’s caution that will be of greater concern for Barça.

Piqué’s foul of Nordin Amrabat resulted in his fifth yellow of the season, meaning that he is set to be suspended for the trip to Valencia next weekend.

Barça are short of cover at centre-back, which adds even more importance to the result of the appeal.

Valverde spoke about the tackle itself after the game, suggesting that he believes it wasn’t worthy of a yellow.

“I protested the booking because Amrabat made a lot of the contact, encouraging the challenge,” he said.

“And because the fans were pressing [for the card]… for me it was a foul that could have been given in our favour. I’m sure the Leganés coach will think the opposite, but for me the card is excessive.”