Real Madrid have raised eyebrows by naming the suspended Aurelien Tchouameni in their travelling squad to face Manchester City in the Champions League. The Spanish side will not face a punishment for simply naming the Frenchman in their travelling squad, but it would be a major administrative blunder should he play any part at the Etihad Stadium.
Tchouameni was booked in the opening minutes of the thrilling 3-3 first leg draw at the Bernabeu. He conceded the free kick from which Bernardo Silva opened the scoring in the Spaniard capital.
The midfielder – who has been forced to play in defence in recent weeks due to injuries – received his third yellow card of the Champions League campaign. With yellow cards only expiring upon the completion of the quarter-final stage, Tchouameni’s booking rules him out of Real’s visit to Man City on Wednesday.
So there was plenty of surprise when Tchouameni was named in Real’s squad to travel to England. It is convention for Spanish clubs to name a travelling squad in the days prior to a match.
However, they tend to exclude stars who are either banned or suspended. Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and defender David Alaba are both injured and do not feature on the list posted on the club’s social media channels.
Head coach Carlo Ancelotti appeared to reference Tchouameni’s suspension in his latest press conference. Tchouameni returned to a midfield role and scored the only goal in Los Blancos’ 1-0 win over Mallorca on Saturday.
“He stands out a lot defensively, because he has a lot of presence. The presence of a tall pivot was important in that sense, because they float a lot of balls to Muriqi. [Antonio] Rudiger and Nacho have also helped.
