Harsh but fair
Thomas Vermaelen must have thought all his Christmases came at once when Barcelona opted to sign the defender last summer.
The former Arsenal man endured an horrendous time at Camp Nou in his first season with injury, but despite an appalling record that saw him last just 63 minutes for the club all season in one single game in La Liga, he was still in the squad on Saturday night to pick up a Champions League Medal after the 3-1 triumph over Juventus.
Visca el Barça! #treble #fcb pic.twitter.com/7vrl8ZKnDP
— Thomas Vermaelen (@thomasvermaelen) June 7, 2015
However according to a Belgian website voetbalkrant.com. the defender may be forced to give back his medal because he didn’t feature for a single minute during their European campaign.
Uefa rules state a player must at least have made one appearance in the club competition to win a medal, and the defender may be forced to give up the only bright spot in a disastrous first season in Spain from last Saturday night.
At least he won’t be alone in missing out on a European medal with Chilean goalkeeper Claudio Bravo and Brazilian full back Douglas Pereira also set to be without any trinket to show for their sterling efforts on the bench all season.
Now if only Liverpool could get Antonio Nunez to give his his up after 2005.
H/t to 101greatgoals
