Manchester Metropolis star Rodri will not appear next Monday in Spain’s final Euro 2024 group stage match against Albania after receiving a yellow card during the match against Italy.
The ruling came after the 27-year-old midfielder was also shown a yellow card during Spain’s 3-0 win over Croatia. He was shown the card at a controversial moment in the match after he appeared to have fouled Bruno Petkovic as the Croatian surged towards goal.
Rodri could have actually been shown a red card for the incident, but instead VAR decided not to impose a more severe penalty and Croatia were awarded a penalty.
Under UEFA’s tournament sanctions, a player who receives two yellow cards will miss his team’s next match.
The governing body also introduced some new rules ahead of the European Championships.
One of the biggest changes is aimed at easing the pressure on referees, with UEFA stating that captains will be the only players who will be able to engage in dialogue with the referee to discuss decisions.
This means that any player who approaches the referee and shows the objection sign will be shown a yellow card.
During the hotly anticipated match between Spain and Italy on Thursday evening, Rodri was shown a yellow card before half-time after appearing to protest to referee Slavko Vincic following a challenge from Federico Chiesa on a team-mate late on.
Although the Italian was not shown a yellow card, several Spanish players surrounded the referee, who eventually showed Rodri a yellow card.
Although it looks like Spain will be without their star in the match against Albania next Monday, they did manage to take the lead against Italy thanks to a bit of luck.
Nico Williams broke onto the left flank, reaching the byline before directing a dangerous ball towards the goal.
While none of his teammates were close enough in the penalty area to connect with the cross, Gianluigi Donnarumma appeared to parry the ball away from goal and into the knee of Riccardo Calafiori, who fired the ball into the back of his own net.