Uefa has suspended Kyle Walker from Manchester City’s next three European matches after his sending-off against Leipzig last month.
The England right-back received a straight red card for a petulant foul – defined on a Uefa charge sheet as “assault” – committed in the dying minutes of City’s last Champions League group encounter against the German team.
Walker will miss both legs of their next last-16 encounter against Sporting Lisbon as a result of the suspension, which was imposed following a hearing by the European governing body’s control, ethics, and disciplinary committee.
The 31-year-old will also miss the opening leg of Man City’s quarter-final if they get that far, as well as their first fixture in European play the following season.
Walker was ejected with eight minutes remaining at the RB Arena after kicking out at Leipzig forward Andre Silva.
Pep Guardiola certainly seemed unhappy with Walker’s actions at the time.
“The red card hurts us, especially for the round of 16,” Guardiola said after the game.
“Kyle Walker is an important player for us and is unnecessary to lose him like this. I hope he learns from this.”
Walker later said, “My red card against Leipzig was a very bad judgment, a stupid error that a 31-year-old shouldn’t be making with the amount of games that I’ve played.”
He continued, “But I’m human, I make mistakes, I’m learning from that, and I’m going to bounce back.”
