to Filipe Luis after the defender was sent off for a challenge
on Barcelona forward Lionel Messi at Camp Nou.
The left-back was dismissed in Atletico's 2-1 defeat to Barca
on Saturday after a high, mistimed tackle on the stroke of
half-time left Messi on the floor and the home bench
enraged.
Barca coach Luis Enrique described the challenge as
"shocking" and the Spanish Football Federation's
Disciplinary Committee settled on a three-game suspension
due to the "gravity of the action".
Atleti, who also had Diego Godin sent off for picking up two
yellow cards, responded on Wednesday to confirm their
appeal, with sporting director Jose Luis Perez Caminero
claiming the punishment was not in line with previous
cases.
"Similar actions should be judged equally and have the
same punishment," he said in a statement on the club's
website.
"It cannot be that an identical action that is written in the
referee's report can be punished with one game in one case
and then ours is punishable by three games for Filipe.
"Filipe Luis is a player with excellent records, as opposed to
a violent player, an athlete. He went to challenge a 50-50
ball, touched the ball then later hit the opponent without
being able to stop.
"Everyone who has played football knows that there is no
misconduct here and this cannot be judged differently.
Three games should serve to punish other actions, not this."
If the ban stands, Atleti head coach Diego Simeone will be
without his first-choice left-back for La Liga games against
Eibar, Getafe and Villarreal.
The former Chelsea defender would be available for the
derby against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu on
February 27.
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