Vinicius Jr. was sent off at the Bernabéu when Real Madrid lost 1-0 against Villarreal, and the Brazilian reacted with a series of incidents that were broadcast by DAZN. The referee, José Díaz de Mera, showed the red card after Vinicius pulled Saliba's hair, who defended himself with a strong reaction. The VAR confirmed the action and the referee did not hesitate to send off the player.
According to the images shown by DAZN, the moment developed quickly: Vinicius was celebrating his goal when the referee showed him the red card. The player was shocked, repeating “red? red?” and demanded explanations from the referee. His companions tried to calm him down and held him down while he shouted “why are you doing that?” on several occasions. Bellingham, who was on the field, commented that “that's nothing” and gestured towards the stands for the fans to “press on”, while Saliba himself told the Brazilian that he had pulled his hair.
The incident escalated when Vinicius pushed a LaLiga employee who was behind the VAR monitors. The employee, who turned out to be the match director, was approached by the player, who yelled “Shit league.” Isaac Fouto, a DAZN commentator, explained that the player had reacted violently to the referee's decision.
Referee Díaz de Mera explained to Mbappé his decision to send off Vinicius and received criticism from Cucurella, who questioned the call. The rest of the team was forced to continue the match without the forward, which contributed to Real Madrid's defeat. The incident has sparked debate about discipline and emotion control in the Premier League, and the club will have to manage Vinicius' situation in upcoming games.