Luis Suarez somehow avoids red card for kick, but could face suspension
Luis Suarez was lucky not to be shown a red card in Barcelona's 2-1 UEFA Champions League win over Atletico Madrid on Tuesday. The striker with a long history of violent conduct was spotted kicking Juanfran away from the play, which should have seen him sent off.
Luckily for Suarez, the referee had already turned to watch the cleared ball so he couldn't see what happened. But that may end up hurting him and Barcelona going forward.
Because the referee did not see the play, UEFA has the ability to take retroactive action. That could mean a fine or a suspension.
Considering this is dangerous and violent play, a suspension seems fair. And if the referee had seen it live and shown a straight red card, it would have come with a three-match suspension so UEFA could very well hand down that ban.
Barcelona already benefitted from Suarez staying on the pitch. At the time of the play, they were down 1-0 and Atletico was down to 10 men for a Fernando Torres red card. But two second half goals from Suarez saw them come away winners and be in a decent spot heading into the quarterfinal second leg tie.
Now Barcelona might not have Suarez for that second leg. And if they prevail anyway, Suarez could be suspended for the semifinals too. He has a past of violent conduct - biting opposing players three times, in three separate competitions* - so UEFA have no reason to go easy on him. The only question is whether they do what is right since kicking out at an opposing player sure isn't.
* Which leads you to wonder why Suarez is still kicking out at players since all eyes are on him, but you could have asked the same thing when he bit someone for a second and third time so level-headed thinking clearly isn't coming into play here. Suarez apparently isn't learning any lessons either.
