Barcelona's reserve goalkeeper Jose Manuel Pinto has
been banned for two Champions League matches for 'conning' an
opposition player.
Copenhagen's Brazilian striker Cesar Santin had a chance to be
through on goal, one-on-one with the keeper, but gave up the chase
after Pinto motioned to him that the assistant had waved his flag
for off-side.
Santin was not off-side and, after he had cleared the ball,
Pinto could clearly be seen grinning towards his team-mates.
The Danish outfit were not happy with his behaviour, prompting
them to make a formal complaint to European football's governing
body.
Uefa agreed that the incident was worthy of a punishment and
handed Pinto a two-match ban on Friday.
The Catalan giants have hinted that they might appeal against
the ban but will have Valdes back for their next European clash
anyway.
setanta.