According to journalist Rodra P (h/t Madrid Zone), Real Madrid are set to appeal against Aurelien Tchouameni’s yellow card that the Frenchman received during the 2-0 win over Getafe last night.
Tchouameni, who played as a makeshift centre-back owing to Antonio Rudiger’s injury, received a booking during the added minutes of the second half.
This means the midfielder is now suspended for the next match, which happens to be the Madrid derby on Sunday, February 4.
On what grounds have Real Madrid appealed?
Tchouameni and his compatriot Eduardo Camavinga entered the game fully aware that receiving a yellow card would result in their absence from the upcoming Madrid derby.
While Camavinga successfully steered clear of any bookings, Tchouameni, unfortunately, did not escape the caution.
In the 93rd minute, Tchouameni committed a foul and received his fifth yellow card of the season.
Carlo Ancelotti personally approached the match referee for his decision. However, despite the protests, the referee’s decision remained unchanged.
Now, in an interesting turn of events, it has come to light that the match official was, in fact, wrong in pulling out a yellow card. Before the Frenchman had committed the error, the game was stopped for an offside call.
According to rulebooks, the player in question cannot be penalized for a foul after an offside call. That means if Tchouameni was booked, Getafe should have received a free-kick.
Since that was not the case, the referee was wrong in cautioning Tchouameni as the game had already been stopped.
This is said to be the base of Real Madrid’s argument as they plan to appeal against the card.
Rudiger picked up a knock in the first half and was taken off for the rest of the match and as reported before, the German centre-back remains a major doubt for the derby clash.
If Tchouameni misses out too, Madrid will have to resort to other tactics to form a different defence.