Vinicius Jr has apologised to his Real Madrid team-mates and supporters after being sent off during the 1-0 La Liga victory over Villarreal, leaving him facing a possible ban for the club’s meeting with Barcelona.
The Brazil forward believed he had scored Real Madrid’s second goal at the Santiago Bernabeu, only for the effort to be ruled out following a video assistant referee review. The check found that Vinicius had pulled Nathan Saliba’s hair in the build-up.
Vinicius, who had come on in the 52nd minute, was shown a red card 20 minutes later. He apologised in a social media post, writing: “sorry to the team and the fans”.
Referee Isidro Diaz de Mera was called to the pitchside monitor as Vinicius celebrated. He disallowed the goal before dismissing the forward, who protested angrily as team-mates tried to restrain him while he left the field.
Villarreal defender Juan Foyth said: “I don’t think he meant to hurt anyone, but it is a red card.”
In his match report, Diaz de Mera said Vinicius had “protested my decision, raising his voice, toward where I was standing in an aggressive manner, and being held back by teammates”.
Vinicius Jr faces possible El Clasico ban
Royal Spanish Football Federation regulations classify pulling an opponent’s hair as violent conduct. Article 130 provides for a suspension of between one and three matches when no injury is caused.
Real Madrid’s next three La Liga fixtures are against Sevilla, Barcelona and Racing Santander. A ban covering the match against Barcelona in two weeks would rule Vinicius out of El Clasico.
Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho ran on to celebrate when he thought Vinicius had scored, but did not attend the mandatory post-match news conference.
