Joelinton will miss Newcastle United's pre-season friendly with Atalanta on Friday after his red card in the Eusebio Cup. The Brazilian midfielder has picked up a one-game suspension after receiving two yellow cards in short succession under the Lisbon lights on Tuesday evening.
Joelinton was only introduced at half-time as Eddie Howe made 11 changes during the interval at the Estadio da Luz. The 25-year-old first dived into a late challenge on Benfica star Rafa, causing a big rip in the attacker's boot. Soon after, he left another late tackle on Florentino, giving the referee no option but to dismiss him.
Howe will now be unable to select the midfield enforcer for Friday's clash with Atalanta. But with two games in less than 24 hours this weekend, Joelinton will likely be included for the Athletic Bilbao clash on Saturday afternoon.
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"I'm disappointed, to be honest. For me, in pre-season friendlies, the last thing I want to see is a red card for either team unless there is a tackle that is really out of the spirit of the game. I don't think Joelinton's tackles were," Howe told the media after the 3-2 defeat.
"The second one was late and he acknowledged that and stayed to try and look after the lad. It spoiled the last 10-15 minutes but it was a good test for us as well. We weren't quite good enough to see the game out, which is disappointing from our perspective."
Newcastle lost the Eusebio Cup at the death on Tuesday evening as Henrique Araujo punished the 10-man Magpies with a late goal to win the cup for Benfica. Howe's side have two remaining friendlies at St. James' Park before the Premier League opener with Nottingham Forest.
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