On Thursday, Barcelona pulled off a comeback win against Levante to book their ticket to the Copa del Rey quarter-final. The Blaugrana lost the first leg but won the second 3-0 to progress via a 4-2 aggregate scoreline.
However, that victory could be in vain as the Catalan giant is in danger of being expelled from this tournament. This all stems down to the participation of 19-year-old defender Chumi.
Valverde decided on rotating his squad in that first-leg defeat and thus played the Barcelona B player. However, Chumi has racked up five yellow cards prior to that Estadi Ciutat de València trip and was thus suspended, with Levante reporting this incident to the federation.
The Spanish Primera Division champion believes they did no wrong. They argue that the 19-year-old picked up this suspension in the league for the B team. The player did serve his suspension last weekend but only after participating in the Copa del Rey for the first team.
Unfortunately, the rules of the competition say otherwise. As stipulated by article 56.3 of the disciplinary code, a player must complete his suspension first before he can play for another team.
To make matters all the more concerning for Barcelona, Marca reports that they have been told by the Spanish Football Federation that Valverde's side fielded an ineligible player. Nonetheless, the manager has stated that his team isn't worried and expect to continue their quest to defend their Copa del Rey title.
"We have no doubt about Chumi," the gaffer stated in his press conference.
"Neither before, nor during, nor after.
"We should be in the draw tomorrow and we are sure that we did nothing wrong.
"We knew perfectly well that he was suspended and that we couldn't use him in the game against Eibar, but in the cup, we could."
Whether the Blaugrana will be thrown out of the competition as punishment will become clearer with time. Should that happen, that will come as a huge blow to Messi and Co. as they aim for yet another treble.
