Deco cards are a blow for Barça

When FC Barcelona take on an AC Milan team full of UEFA Champions League winners on Tuesday night, they will be without the one man in their ranks who has claimed European football's greatest prize.

Treading carefully
Portuguese playmaker Deco will miss the San Siro showdown after picking up his third caution of the campaign in the second leg of Barça's quarter-final victory against SL Benfica. The 28-year-old was also booked in the first leg against Benfica as well as on Matchday 1 against Werder Bremen. Against Milan - and injury permitting - three other Barça players will have to tread carefully for fear of sitting out the return match, namely Rafael Márquez, Oleguer Presas and Mark van Bommel.

Gattuso again
For their part, Milan are the only semi-finalist who have no one suspended for Matchday 11. However, they do have three players walking the disciplinary tightrope, including Gennaro Gattuso, who is one yellow card away from his second suspension of this European season. Filippo Inzaghi and Paolo Maldini, who like Gattuso were booked in the quarter-final second leg against Olympique Lyonnais, are also one transgression away from a ban.

Reyes and Viera
For Wednesday's semi-final, both Arsenal FC and Villarreal CF will be without the services of a key player. The hosts, in their final European game at Highbury, have lost forward José Antonio Reyes while the visitors are deprived of goalkeeper Sebastián Viera. In addition, Arsenal have Mathieu Flamini and Kolo Touré watching their step for fear of a yellow card-induced suspension with Villarreal's Gonzalo Rodríguez, Marcos Senna, Juan Pablo Sorín and Alessio Tacchinardi equally cautious.