BARCELONA STRIKER LUIS Suarez has been banned for two Copa del Rey matches after being cited in the referee’s report for calling Espanyol players “a waste of space” at the end of a heated Catalan derby.

Barcelona said they would appeal the ban, arguing that it was not Suarez who uttered those words.

Barca won the first leg of the Copa de Rey last-16 tie between the sides 4-1 on Wednesday as Espanyol had two players sent off and were lucky to escape further punishment as goalkeeper Pau Lopez’s violent stamp (below) on Lionel Messi went unseen.

Suarez, who was also booked for a clash with Lopez, was punished for allegedly sparking a brawl in the tunnel after the game that security personnel had to break up.

“Whilst all the Espanyol players climbed the stairs in the tunnel towards the dressing rooms, he (Suarez) waited for them and confronted them saying on various occasions: “Here I am waiting for you, come here; you are a waste of space,” referee Juan Martinez Munuera wrote in his report.

That provoked a clash between players from both clubs, forcing security personnel present and the managerial staff from both teams to intervene.

Suarez’s controversial career has seen him receive four long bans — three for biting opponents and one for allegedly racially abusing French defender Patrice Evra during his time at Liverpool.

Yet the Uruguayan’s behaviour since joining Barcelona 18 months ago has been exemplary and the suspension meted out Friday was his first since the four-month ban he received for his bite on Giorgio Chiellini at the 2014 World Cup.

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