Start with the phase and season
Article 63 of the current Champions League regulations distinguishes the pre-league qualifying phase from the league phase onward. Its new league-phase threshold is four yellows that did not themselves result in a red card. UEFA’s dated October explainer explicitly identifies this as a 2026/27 change from the previous three-card threshold.
A useful viewing record therefore includes the competition season and phase with the card total. Three cautions in a current league-phase graphic and three cautions in a qualifying-round record need not have the same immediate consequence. A general count copied from an older season can be misleading.
Expiry of cards is not cancellation of every ban
The regulations clear yellow cards and pending yellow-card suspensions after the pre-league play-offs before the league phase. Later, yellow cards expire after the quarterfinals. UEFA’s explanation makes clear that a suspension already triggered by accumulation remains applicable at that later boundary.
If a viewer sees a player unavailable for the first semifinal despite hearing that cards have been wiped, those facts can fit together. The relevant question is whether the quarterfinal caution merely added to an unspent count or triggered a next-match suspension. Keep that distinction in any note about availability.
Read a sending-off separately
A red-card suspension is a separate matter. The current article normally suspends a sent-off player or official for the next UEFA club match, with disciplinary bodies able to increase punishment for a serious offence. It should not be treated as an unused single yellow that simply vanishes at the next yellow-card reset.
These primary documents were checked on 4 November 2026. Use the official disciplinary decision and actual eligible next match for a named player rather than calculating a ban from isolated clips. This article explains the rule boundaries without making an unverified claim about anyone’s current availability.