Atletico Madrid’s La Liga title hopes may have been dealt a massive blow today as the club are set to finish their season without the services of manager Diego Simeone. The Barcelona-conquering manager has been slapped with a season-ending ban by Spanish football.
According to NBC Sports, La Liga determined that Simeone instructed a ball boy to toss a ball onto the pitch in order to interrupt an attack by rivals Malaga. As a result of the ruling, he will be banned from coaching the team for the final three matches of the season. Per the source, the fiery Argentine manager is not disputing the charges against him.
Simeone will still be allowed to coach in the UEFA Champions League against Bayern Munich and former rival Pep Guardiola. The Atletico boss led the team to an upset win over defending UCL champions Barcelona in the Champions League quarter-finals.
Atletico Madrid are tied with Barcelona for points with 82 apiece, but are well behind them on the goal differential tiebreaker.
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