Savic and Ferran could face three-match suspensions

The Civitas Metropolitano hosted an evenly matched encounter between Atletico Madrid and Barcelona. Xavi Hernandez's side struck a blow in La Liga with a narrow win over the Madrid side to move three points clear of their closest rivals in the competition, Real Madrid.

It was an evenly contested match that was decided by Ousmane Dembele's first-half strike. However, there was also controversy and both teams were down a player in the 90th minute when Savic and Ferran Torres clashed on the pitch.

The referee wrote the same argument to explain what happened: "In the 90th minute player (15) Savic , Stefan was sent off for the following reason: Holding an opponent by the neck with his arm with excessive force in a continuous manner, while the ball was in play but not within playing distance of each other".

This is what the Disciplinary Code says: "Violent conduct during play or as a direct consequence of a set piece of play, provided that the action causes risk but does not have harmful or injurious consequences, shall be punishable by suspension for one to three matches or for a period of up to one month. If the action described in the previous paragraph takes place on the fringes of play or when play is stopped, it shall be sanctioned with a suspension of two to three matches.

The 'Cochoneros' has the example of Mario Hermoso, who a couple of seasons ago grabbed Iago Aspas by the neck and cost him a red card at Balaidos. With an almost identical record to this match, the Spaniard only received a one-match ban, so there is peace of mind at Atletico.