Jude Bellingham, Declan Rice and Ruben Dias among players who are walking a very thin tightrope tonight as all are one caution away from missing their respective second leg clashes in the Champions League

European football returns tonight with two Premier League clubs set to line up in the Champions League quarter-finals.

Current title holders Manchester City travel to the fortress that is the Santiago Bernabeu for their opening quarter final clash against Real Madrid.

Whilst Mikel Arteta's Arsenal side will host Bayern Munich at the Emirates to a Gunners only crowd - as Bayern Munich supporters have been banned from attending tonight's games after fan trouble in their last-16 tie against Lazio.

It isn't just Bayern fans who risk being suspended from Champions League action however as players from City, Arsenal, Madrid and Bayern all risk missing their second leg ties due to suspension.

What is proving to be a major headache for all coaches heading into this match-day, managers will be cautioning their players to avoid picking up a yellow tonight over fears they will miss the arguably more important second leg tie.

Arsenal will host Bayern Munich at the Emirate tonight to a Gunners only crowd as Bayern fans have been banned from attending tonight's game

Players who may miss Real Madrid vs Man City

Carlo Ancelotti's Madrid lead the way with potential players who may miss their second leg clash scheduled for next week at the Etihad. 

England midfielder Jude Bellingham is one of four Madrid first team players at risk of missing the second leg of their Champions League clash. 

Bellingham was booked twice during the group stages, seeing yellow in Madrid's victory against Napoli and for a second time in their 3-2 win against Union Berlin.

A third yellow card tonight would mean the 20-year-old would miss Madrid' second-leg clash next week.

Vinicius Junior, Eduardo Camavinga and Aurelien Tchouameni are also all walking on a tightrope tonight as a yellow card would see them get a ban for the next game. 

Madrid's opponents face less of a scare as only one of their players is at risk of potentially missing the City vs Madrid second leg clash.

City and Portuguese defender Ruben Dias is the only City players who has two yellow cards to their name in this year's Champions League and risk being banned for the second leg of the tie. 

Players who may miss Arsenal vs Bayern Munich 

Four players in tonight's clash between Arsenal and Bayern Munich face the possibility of being banned from their second leg-tie which is due to take place next Wednesday, April 17. 

Mikel Arteta will be holding his breath tonight as two of his most important players risk sitting in the stands for the second leg of the tie.

Both Declan Rice and Kai Havertz have picked up two yellow cards during their Champions League campaign and a third tonight will see them miss their next European game. 

On the other side of the clash, Bayern players Alphonso Davies and Leon Goretzka face the harsh reality of being banned for the return leg on March 17 if they pick up another yellow card.

Yellow card rule 

Player's yellow card tallies are set to reset after the quarter-final stage, meaning if any of the named players above receive a yellow in the second leg of the quarter-finals they won't be banned from playing in the semi-final.

This rule was brought in over a decade ago after the previous rule gained a lot of attention because the previous system saw teams go into finals without their big name players. 

The rule was changed to prevent players missing the final of the competition as a result of yellow cards piled up from the earlier rounds of the competition.