Vinícius Jr. has broken his silence on Instagram after being sent off in Real Madrid’s 1-0 win over Villarreal on Saturday, October 10, a red card that came after a VAR review disallowed his goal for pulling Nathan-Dylan Saliba’s hair.
The Brazilian forward used his Instagram account to apologize to his teammates and the club’s supporters. “I am still happy… I want to apologize to my teammates and Real Madrid fans,” Vini wrote.
The words came just hours after a night that began as a moment of redemption for the Brazilian, who had been left out of Jose Mourinho’s starting lineup and came on in the 51st minute with the match still goalless.
Vinícius had an immediate impact, as Real Madrid broke the deadlock in the 62nd minute through Yan Diomande, and nine minutes later the Brazilian finished off a fast counterattack, which seemed to make it 2-0.
However, referee Isidro Díaz de Mera was sent to the monitor by the VAR, and after the review he disallowed the goal because Vinícius had pulled Saliba’s hair at the start of the move, and showed him a straight red card. The Brazilian was visibly furious as he left the pitch, and his teammates had to calm him down.
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The next step will be the disciplinary decision from the Competition Committee, which will determine how many matches Vinícius misses after reviewing the referee’s report. Early analysis in the Spanish press suggests the action could be classified as violent conduct, which carries a ban of two to three matches, although some estimates go up to four.
Because Real Madrid’s next two league matches are against Sevilla on October 18 and Barcelona on October 25 at the Camp Nou, even the minimum sanction would rule him out of the Clásico, where Real Madrid will need all its attacking options as it tries to close the six-point gap on the league leaders.
With Vinícius likely to be unavailable, Yan Diomande is in line to take over his place on the left wing. The Ivorian winger arrives in good form after scoring his first goal for Real Madrid against Villarreal, a strike that proved decisive in a 1-0 win and earned him praise as the match’s standout player.
