Inter Milan are expected to appeal against the two-game ban given to Felipe Melo after his red card against Sassuolo on Sunday.
Melo was shown two yellow cards -- an offence that carries an automatic one-game suspension -- but his conduct when shown the red card led the disciplinary committee of the Lega Serie A to impose an additional one-game punishment.
According to a statement, Melo has been banned "for two yellow cards shown for unsporting behaviour towards an opponent and for, in addition, when being shown the red card in the 48th minute of the second half, adopting a disrespectful attitude towards the referee."
The player has also been fined €10,000.
La Gazzetta dello Sport reported that Inter would appeal and said they hoped to have the midfielder back for the trip to Udinese on Jan. 8.
However, he will miss Wednesday's home match against Lazio, with Inter looking to increase the pressure on third place following back-to-back wins over Genoa and Sassuolo.
Coach Stefano Pioli has expressed his confidence in being able to close the seven-point gap to third and told La Gazzetta dello Sport: "Of course we can -- we are Inter.
"We need to believe in it also because we have huge margin for improvement.
"I'm quite curious to see what level we can hit. I wasn't starting out from scratch because this team already has great value, no matter what."
