FCBARCELONA.CAT

09.04.2009 13:07

Club to appeal Messi and Guardiola decisions

www.fcbarcelona.cat

The FC Barcelona legal dept will appeal to the UEFA against the yellow card handed to Messi and the expulsion of Pep Guardiola from the bench during the match against Bayern.

This Friday morning, FC Barcelona will appeal against the yellow card received by Messi in the 17th minute after being tackled by Lell inside the penalty box. The English referee Howard Webb ignored the penalty shout and decided that Messi had taken a dive and therefore booked him.

Guardiola appeal

As a result of this, Pep Guardiola made a heated protest against the decisions of the linesman and the referee and was subsequently expelled from the bench and had to watch the rest of the match from the stands.

The Club will appeal both decisions.

Due to the Easter holidays, UEFA will probably not be rule on these issues until next Tuesday, the day of the return leg in the Allianz Arena.

Two incidents last season

Pep Guardiola’s expulsion on Wednesday evening is his first since he took over as head coach of the senior squad. However, last season he was expelled from the bench twice while coaching the reserve squad, strangely enough against the same team, Manlleu.

The first time was the 17th matchday of the Third Division. Barça B beat Manlleu 4-2 and Guardiola was expelled from the bench 10 minutes before the final whistle for protesting to the assistant referee about some over-tough tackling from the Manlleu players.

The second incident occurred in the corresponding match later in the season which Barça won 2-3. Guardiola complained about a disallowed Pedro goal in the 82nd minute and he was subsequently ordered into the terraces.