Record number of cards in the Champions League for Barca: only 5 clubs saw more!

Porto-Barcelona gave a lot to talk about. The 'Cules' put an end to their bad run away from home against opponents of a certain level in the top club competition and they did it without playing a great game, playing pragmatism and with a tough football that cost them numerous cautions. There were seven yellow cards, to six players and the double caution that cost Gavi his red card, but there could have been more.

Barcelona had a Champions League record of 5 cautions in a single match. Not even in the entire 'Champions League era' had the 'Cules' seen 6 yellow cards in the same match. The 7 that Xavi's team saw are now part of the history of the competition. Against Porto, Joao Cancelo was the first one to be cautioned after stopping a counter-attack with a tackle in the 13th minute.

In the 29th minute, Ronald Araujo was yellow-carded for protesting in an action in which Cardoso was also cautioned. In addition to Xavi for his constant complaints to the referee, Gavi was the last to get a booking from Anthony Taylor before half-time for a challenge on Wendell.

The flurry of yellow cards for Barcelona continued after the break. An unconventional clearance by Kounde, which hit Wendell, led to a fourth booking for the visitors in the 47th minute. And just three minutes later, in the 50th minute, Joao Felix tackled Varela and was also yellow-carded. The last few minutes of the game were difficult for Barcelona, who worked hard to defend the slender 1-0 lead at the end of the game.

Sergi Roberto received the penultimate booking for a foul on Ivan Jaime near the by-line with five minutes to go. Gavi, in added time, was sent off after grabbing Wendell again in the 93rd minute.

In the last five years, Barcelona players have only been cautioned more than four times in the same game on two occasions, both away from home and against tough opponents such as Benfica and Napoli. The last visit to Portugal ended similarly in this respect, although on that occasion Koeman's men were unable to get the win and lost 3-0. Five yellow cards were shown to the 'Cules', those of Pique, Eric Garcia (2), who was sent off-, Sergino Dest and Nico Gonzalez.

On Italian soil, in a match that ended 1-1 with Quique Setien in charge of the team, there were also 4 bookings and one sent off, Arturo Vidal, for a double yellow card. The others who received cards were Sergio Busquets, Messi and Griezmann.

October 5, 2023

Juventus still leads the ranking

Throughout the history of the competition, Juventus remain at the top of the table with 9 bookings from their visit to Panathinaikos in the 2000-01 season. The Hellenic side won 3-1 with goals from Paulo Sousa, Basinas and Warzycha to overcome Inzaghi's momentary equaliser. In that match, 7 different Juventus men were cautioned and 2 of them, Van der Sar and Kovacevic, were red-carded after receiving 2 yellow cards. The other team-mates punished by referee Dick Jol were Trezeguet, Iuliano, Zanchi, Conte and Ferrara.

Below are 4 clubs whose players saw 8 yellow cards in the same match. Chronologically, the most recent is Atletico's 2-1 defeat against Barcelona in 2015-16. 7 players were cautioned and 1, Fernando Torres, was shown a double yellow in the first half. In addition to 'El Nino', Koke, Filipe Luis, Griezmann, Lucas Hernandez, Oblak and Augusto Fernandez also received yellow cards.