Kylian Mbappe one of four Real Madrid stars 'at risk of ban' for Champions League clash v Arsenal

Four players for the European champions are deemed at risk of suspension due to their celebrations after beating Atletico Madrid in the last 16 of the Champions League.

Los Blancos progressed on penalties after winning the first leg 2-1 and the losing the second leg away from home 1-0.

Former Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger scored the decisive penalty and is one of the Real Madrid fearing a ban.

A report from Telegraph Sport says Mbappe, Rudiger, Vinicius Junior and Dani Ceballos could miss their quarter-final against Arsenal.

The Madrid quartet are under investigation over alleged "indecent conduct", with an "ethics and disciplinary inspector" analysing their actions after beating Atletico on penalties on March 12.

The report states:

The investigation is believed to centre on gestures that were made by the Madrid players towards the Atletico supporters. Rudiger is alleged to have made a throat-slitting gesture towards the home fans, while footage on social media has shown Mbappe grabbing his crotch during the celebrations of his team's penalty shoot-out win.

It remains to be seen whether the investigation and any possible disciplinary procedure would be completed in time for Madrid's quarter-final against Arsenal. The first leg takes place at the Emirates Stadium on April 8, with the second leg in Spain to be played on April 16.

There was a similar situation involving Madrid and England midfielder Jude Bellingham during last summer's European Championship. Bellingham was given a one-match suspended ban and fined around 25,000 pounds for a crotch-grabbing gesture he made after scoring for England against Slovakia.

On that occasion, the process was relatively swift: Bellingham made the gesture in a match on June 30 and was then fined on July 5.

Arsenal will obviously hope Vinicius Jr, Mbappe and Rudiger are unavailable for both legs. They probably want former loan player Ceballos to play, to be fair.

There is no doubt that Madrid will be significantly weaker if those three players are unavailable and ultimately could cost them winning back-to-back Champions Leagues.

Arsenal are also hoping Bukayo Saka will be available for the first leg on April 8 - which is eight days before the second leg at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Saka was pictured in training for the first time since suffering a serious hamstring injury against Crystal Palace in December on Thursday.

It is unclear if the England winger is going through individual training or if he is back into full first-team training.

Either way, Arsenal fans are absolutely delighted to see Saka back on the grass.