Athletic Club attacker Nico Williams is set to miss their La Liga clash with Barcelona on March 3.
The Spanish international was shown a second yellow card in Athletic Club’s 3-1 league defeat to Real Betis and will now serve a one game ban.
Williams was dismissed for sarcastically applauding the referee after he thought he was fouled rather than the other way around.
Receives harsh yellow ➡️ Claps the referee sarcastically ➡️ Gets sent off
Because of this, Nico Williams will miss the next match against Barça 😬 pic.twitter.com/PE7FXmyvfK
— Viaplay Sports UK (@ViaplaySportsUK) February 25, 2024
As per reports from Marca, Athletic Club plan to appeal against the first booking, to remove the sending off and subsequent suspension.
Williams’ incoming ban will not impact Athletic Club’s midweek Copa del Rey semi final second leg at home to Atletico Madrid.
The 21-year-old has scored five goals so far this season, across all competitions, after extending his contract until 2027 in December.
The Basque side hold a 1-0 lead from the first leg in Madrid, with the potential for a meeting with local rivals Real Sociedad in the final, if they can hold off Los Rojiblancos.
