FC Bayern took a big step towards the Champions League quarter-finals with a 6-1 away win at Atalanta Bergamo. However, two yellow cards in the closing stages caused controversy. Joshua Kimmich and Michael Olise both received their third cautions in the competition and will therefore miss the second leg – although there is currently no threat of a major replay by UEFA
The scenes took place in the final minutes of the match at the New Balance Arena. With the score at 6-0, Michael Olise took a conspicuously long time to take a corner kick and was cautioned in the 77th minute
Joshua Kimmich followed suit just a few minutes later. The midfielder delayed his run-up several times when taking a free-kick. Bergamo’s Yunus Musah reacted with annoyance and kicked the ball away – in the end, both players were shown a yellow card
It was the third caution of the competition for both Kimmich and Olise, who are now automatically suspended for the second leg of the round of 16 tie at the Allianz Arena
Report from France gives the all-clear
The cautions caused speculation immediately after the final whistle due to the possibility of players deliberately provoking a yellow card in order to go into the next round with a „clean“ card account
It is precisely in such cases that UEFA can intervene retrospectively and impose an additional ban
According to the French sports newspaper L’Équipe, however, there is currently little to suggest such a scenario, as referee Espen Eskås did not record any unusual or suspicious behavior by the two Bayern players in his official match report
This is a crucial point: without a corresponding note in the match report, there is generally no basis for disciplinary proceedings by UEFA
This means that an additional ban for Kimmich and Olise is currently extremely unlikely
UEFA officially keeping a low profile
However, the European soccer association did not want to make a clear statement when asked by the Deutsche Presse-Agentur. UEFA merely stated: „As soon as incidents are reported, proceedings will be initiated. Should these lead to disciplinary measures, these will be published on the UEFA disciplinary homepage.“
However, as no such incident has been reported to date, all indications are that the automatic ban for the second leg will remain in place
However, a deliberately provoked yellow card would not be entirely without risk. The case of Sergio Ramos from 2019 provides a prominent example
The then Real Madrid captain committed a tactical foul in the first leg of the round of 16 against Ajax Amsterdam shortly before the end and then publicly admitted that he had deliberately accepted the yellow card. UEFA deemed this to be an infringement of the rules and imposed an additional ban
However, a similar scenario is not currently on the cards in the case of Kimmich and Olise. As there is neither an admission of guilt nor a corresponding note in the match report, FC Bayern are likely to emerge from the card discussion without any further consequences