Paris Saint-Germain have been dealt a heavy blow at the start of their Ligue 1 campaign. The French League's disciplinary committee have suspended Portugal's Nuno Mendes for three matches following the red card he received during the Trophée des Champions clash against Lens.
Mendes saw red in the final minutes against Lens after catching Michal Skoras with his elbow, leaving referee Jérémy Pignard little choice but to dismiss the Portuguese full-back.
Meeting today, Wednesday, the disciplinary committee handed down its three-match ban. Mendes will now miss three upcoming fixtures at the start of the Ligue 1 season, against Rennes, Lille and Monaco.
Saint-Germain had lost the Trophée des Champions to Lens just days after beating Aston Villa to lift the UEFA Super Cup.
According to RMC, the decision followed PSG's frustration at referee Jérémy Pignard's post-match report, which they considered overly harsh in its description of the incident.
Pignard had labelled Mendes' challenge a "violent blow away from play". That stunned the Parisian side, who felt play had actually resumed at the time and that their full-back was breaking behind the Lens defence before Skoras obstructed him.
None of those arguments swayed the disciplinary committee, who pressed ahead with the three-match suspension.
Mendes had come on shortly before the hour mark, with PSG trailing 1-0. He could not turn the game around before his late dismissal.
Luis Enrique is expected to turn to France's Lucas Digne to cover the absence, having signed him in the summer as the direct replacement for the Portuguese.
Digne started against Lens before Mendes was handed a second-half run-out. The suspension now hands the France international a starting berth for the next three matches.
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