Barcelona have failed with their appeal of Neymar's three-match ban before the appeals committee of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF).
The Blaugrana will now take the case before the federation's Court of Arbitration for Sport on Friday and if they are successful, Neymar could be eligible to play in Sunday's El Clasico against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu.
The Brazilian was dismissed for two yellow cards in Barca’s defeat at Malaga earlier this month, but his ban was extended as he sarcastically applauded the officials following his red card.
It was the 25-year-old’s first sending off with the Catalans in his four seasons with the club, and was Barca’s first red card in the league since October 2015 – the longest of any club.
The RFEF competition committee deemed the ‘sarcastic applauding of the fourth official’ worthy of an additional two-game ban, meaning Neymar missed the club’s league match Real Sociedad and is ruled out of the games against Madrid and Osasuna.
