Barcelona have confirmed they will appeal against the suspensions that will rule Luis Suarez and Sergio Busquets out of the Copa del Rey final.
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Luis Enrique's side drew 1-1 with Atletico Madrid at Camp Nou on Tuesday to seal a 3-2 aggregate triumph in the semi-final tie, but finished the match with nine men after Sergi Roberto and Suarez were dismissed.
The holders will not contest Roberto's punishment as they chase a third straight victory in the competition, although a club statement confirmed they took issue with the reasons outlined in referee Jesus Gil Manzano's report for handing Suarez two late yellow cards.
[ANNOUNCEMENT] Club to present appeal against Luis Suárez and Sergio Busquets cards #CopaFCB #FCBlive https://t.co/mKuoYYttmb pic.twitter.com/4GAcG2ri8S
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) February 8, 2017
"The first of these refers to the second yellow card shown to Luis Suarez after a tussle for the ball with Koke. The Uruguayan received two bookings in the space of three minutes.
"Match official Jesus Gil Manzano stated in his report that Suarez was booked for the second time because of 'striking an opposing player with his arm in a reckless manner while contesting the ball'."
Busquets was booked for kicking the ball away in the sixth minute of stoppage time – a caution that will also rule him out of a final showdown with either Celta Vigo or Deportivo Alaves – although Barca contest the Spain midfielder was merely reacting to the fact there were two balls on the field at the time.
Prior to the club's confirmation of appeal, Barca boss Luis Enrique suggested that although he was in favour of the decision to do so, it would be unlikely that he was involved in the decider on May 27.
"I'm in agreement with appealing, but if you look at the past you will see what good appeals have been for us," Luis Enrique said. "[The final is] not until May, there's a long time to think about that [who would replace Suarez].
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"It frustrates me that players on my team miss finals, but at the end of the day it's something which happens in football. The referee felt that both Suarez and Roberto deserved two yellow cards.
"I was about to take Roberto off because of the booking he had. He's made three challenges and he's been given two cautions. We felt he could maybe get a second, but we didn't react quick enough."