Barca's Koeman banned for Atletico and Valencia games

Koeman's ban starts with Sunday's trip to his former club Valencia as Barca looks to bounce back from the shock 2-1 defeat by Granada.

Koeman was dismissed in the aftermath of Darwin Machis's 63rd minute equaliser for Granada.

Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman has been hit with a two-game ban by the Spanish FA (RFEF) after being shown a red card in Thursday's shock 2-1 defeat at home to Granada and will miss the visit of La Liga leader Atletico Madrid next Saturday.

The Dutchman's suspension starts with Sunday's trip to his former club Valencia as Barca looks to bounce back from the shock 2-1 defeat by Granada which means the Catalans no longer have the destiny of the title in their own hands.

READ |

Koeman was dismissed in the aftermath of Darwin Machis's 63rd minute equaliser for Granada and in his post-game report the referee said the Barca coach, having already been warned about his conduct, spoke degradingly to the fourth official, shouting "What a character" at him.

The suspension, handed down by the RFEF Competition Committee, comes under the umbrella of "acts of disparagement or thoughtlessness towards referees, directors or sporting authorities," for which two games is the standard punishment.

Barcelona announced later on Friday that they would appeal against Koeman's suspension.

Barca sits third in the table on 71 points, two behind leader Atletico and with the same points as Real Madrid, which it trails due to its inferior head-to-head record.