Ronaldo suspended for five games

Cristiano Ronaldo has been suspended for five games after he was sent off in Real Madrid’s 3-1 win against Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup first leg on Sunday.

He was given a one-match ban for being shown two yellow cards and a further four for pushing the referee in the back after he had been sent off.

The bookings at the Nou Camp were for taking off his shirt to celebrate his goal to make it 2-1 and for a dive.

He will miss Wednesday’s second leg.
Ronaldo, 32, will have 10 days to appeal.
The Portugal international will be able to play in the Champions League but will not return to domestic action until 20 September against Real Betis.

Madrid had already signalled their intent to appeal against Ronaldo’s second yellow card shown for diving eight minutes from time when he went down inside the area under pressure from Samuel Umtiti.

“Ronaldo’s sending-off annoys me because even if it is not a penalty, the card is harsh,” said Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane after the game. “We will see if we can do something so that he is available on Wednesday.”

Ronaldo was only on the field for 24 minutes as he was introduced as a second-half substitute and fired into the top corner 10 minutes from time to give Madrid a 2-1 lead.

It was Ronaldo’s 10th red card of his career and the two yellow cards on Sunday came within two minutes.

“Once shown the red card, said player (Ronaldo) pushed me lightly as a sign of his disapproval,” the referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea wrote in his post-match report.