Manchester City have appealed UEFA's decision to hand Kyle Walker a three-game ban after his challenge over RB Leipzig's Andre Silva in a group-stage defeat in December, according to a new report.
In December, Walker was shown a direct red card after an unnecessary kick on Andre Silva in the second half of Manchester City's 2–1 group-stage at RB Leipzig.
The England international was drafted to miss the first round of 16 stage and the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals after the Sky Blues accepted a punishment handed out to the right-back for his reckless challenge in Germany. Manchester City must progress.
However, given the length of suspensions given for similar incidents in recent days, City have appealed UEFA's decision to impose a three-game ban on Walker in the Champions League, according to Jack Gaughan of The Daily Mail. .
It has been reported that Manchester City felt that UEFA compared similar incidents in Europe's elite club competition, despite UEFA branding Walker's challenge as an 'attack' and subsequently handing him a three-match ban. The three-game suspension is excessive.
Premier League champions hope to persuade UEFA to reduce the length of the ban by highlighting the number of games that have been missed by the likes of Antoine Griezmann, Thomas Müller, Idrisa Guay and Andrey Yarmalenko after similar incidents in recent European campaigns. Huh.
Walker admitted that his tackle was a display of poor judgment in an interview in January, as he said: "My red card against Leipzig was a very bad decision and a stupid error not to do with a 31-year-old's amount." The games I have played.
"I am human, I make mistakes and I am learning from them and will come back. Hopefully my performance between now and the end of the season justifies it and I am picking up some silverware."