Real Madrid forward Vinícius Junior was sent off from Mestalla in the 79th minute after slapping Valencia goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski in the face. Referee Soto Grado showed the Brazilian a direct red card after going to the VAR to review the dispute between the Madrid player and the Che team. After showing him the cardboard that was sent to the locker room tunnel, Rüdiger and a member of the staff of Carlo Ancelotti had to separate Vinícius from the referee after a furious reaction to his expulsion.
The mishap occurred after Vini missed a chance and fell to the ground. The Valencia goalkeeper reproached him by touching him on the back for seeking a penalty after a clean steal by Foulquier, which resulted in the Brazilian attacker getting up and slapping the Macedonian goalkeeper in the face.
After this clash, there were moments of tension on the pitch of the Valencian fiefdom between several local and Madrid players. As a result of the match, Soto Grado showed a yellow card to Dimitrievski and Tchouaméni. Afterwards, the referee consulted the VAR about the action that the Che goalkeeper and Vinícius carried out. Next, he showed Vinícius the red card, the first officially recorded in his 191 League games.
It should be remembered that, in reality, this is the second expulsion of the Brazilian in the league competition. Precisely the other case also occurred in Mestalla in May 2023, but the Competition Committee left the Merengue footballer without a sanction because it considered that the image that the VAR had shown the referee was “partial and biased”, giving rise to a “ unfair” red.
Pending what Soto Grado’s report states, Vinícius Junior could miss four games due to this expulsion, which would prevent him from playing in the Spanish Super Cup. There is a recent precedent in this regard: Leganés playmaker Óscar Rodríguez was sanctioned by the Disciplinary Committee for four games after being sent off for grabbing Villarreal’s Yeremy Pino by the neck.
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