Barcelona veteran star ruled out of Copa del Rey clash against Real Betis | OneFootball

Barcelona had a near-perfect night on Sunday in Jeddah as they thrashed Real Madrid 5-2 to win the Spanish Super Cup.

The only blot marks for the Blaugranas on the night were the injury to key defender Inigo Martinez, ruling him out for five weeks, and the red card shown to goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny.

Wojciech Szczesny to miss the Copa del Rey clash vs Real Betis

As a result of his red card, Wojciech Szczesny will serve his suspension in the upcoming Copa del Rey match against Real Betis at Montjuic, reports Mundo Deportivo.

This means that the Polish goalkeeper will be available for Barcelona’s La Liga fixture against Getafe next Saturday.

The sending-off occurred in the 57th minute when referee Gil Manzano, following a VAR review led by Iglesias Villanueva, determined that Szczesny’s challenge on Kylian Mbappe outside the penalty area denied a clear goal-scoring opportunity.

The incident was recorded in the official match report as follows:

“In the 57th minute, player (25) Szczesny, Wojciech, was sent off for the following reason: For bringing down an opponent while contesting the ball, thereby denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity.”

Szczesny was sent off after a VAR check. (Photo by Yasser Bakhsh/Getty Images)

Previously, such suspensions were served exclusively in the same tournament, i.e., having been sent off in the Spanish Super Cup, Szczesny would have been required to serve the suspension in the same competition.

However, the regulations were modified to ensure that players serve their penalties immediately, even if they do not participate in the tournament again. Article 56, point eight, of the Disciplinary Code’s sanction enforcement guidelines states:

“Suspensions resulting from the Spanish Super Cup, regardless of their severity, will prohibit players from participating, acting, or accessing the field of play, bench, and dressing room area for the number of matches covered by the sanction, in the order in which they occur, even if alterations to the calendar, postponements, replays, or other circumstances change the pre-established scheduled competition timeline.”

As a result, Szczesny will be unavailable for the Copa del Rey match against Betis but will return for Barcelona’s La Liga encounter with Getafe, where coach Hansi Flick can rely on him once more.