John Terry banned three UEFA matches for his kick of Alexis Sanchez

Most of you are aware by this point that John Terry foolishly kicked the increasingly detestable Alexis Sanchez during the second leg of the Champions League semifinal against FC Barcelona. Terry was sent off for his actions, and was then required to miss the upcoming Champions League final (which Chelsea won anyway). UEFA today has made their final decision regarding the incident, increasing the automatic 1 match ban for a red card to a 3 match ban for violent conduct. Anyone who has actually seen the incident can have little complaint about the ruling, as Terry was clearly guilty of an inexcusably stupid act.

The Champions League final will count as the 1st of the 3 games Terry will be suspended for, so he'll start next season scheduled to miss the first 2 UEFA matches that Chelsea are scheduled to play. That will include the UEFA Super Cup against Europa League champions Atletico Madrid as well as the first game of the Champions League group stage against an opponent yet to be determined. Terry will then be available for the remaining 5 games of the group stage.

I have a hard time viewing this punishment as anything other than well deserved, as Terry (or any other Chelsea player) should know better than to allow the Barcelona players to get under their skin while trying to climb back into a semifinal. While Sanchez certainly took his shots at Terry previously and was embellishing the incident to a ridiculous amount*, there is just no excuse for a player of Terry's experience to lash out in that manner. It looks like we'll get a few more chances to see the Luiz/Cahill pairing early on, and depending on the outcome of that other matter involving the captain it could be pretty common to see that partnership.

*Ironically Barca fans found Drogba's embellishment "detestable" while forgetting that they have guys like Sanchez and Biscuits. Funny that...