Jose Mourinho was left fuming after the decision to hand summer Arsenal target Vinicius Junior a four-match ban in midweek, with the winger to miss El Clásico.
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Vinicius Junior was involved in a bizarre moment with Real Madrid against Villarreal last week, scoring a goal only to have it ruled out by VAR for a red-card offence against him.
Vinicius had clearly pulled Nathan Saliba back by his hair, and to make matters worse, the referee then highlighted the winger’s furious reaction in his post-match report.
Such a reaction risked additional matches being added to Vinicius’ suspension, and so it proved. Earlier this week, Vinicius was banned for four domestic fixtures. Two games for the hair-pull offence, and two more for his on-field reaction to the sending off.
To rub salt in the wound, the announcement was made just hours before Real Madrid’s Champions League game against AS Roma.
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Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho certainly wasn’t happy, saying: “Do you think it’s normal for a player who is going to play an important match for Spanish football to know two hours before that he is sanctioned with four games?
“You don’t need to answer me. It’s not normal. Couldn’t they do it now or tomorrow morning? We found out on the bus and almost arrived at the stadium.”
Vinicius himself added: “I don’t remember any player ever getting a four-game suspension. I tried to get past the player in front of me and ended up grabbing his hair.
“That’s it – a red card. That’s why I was so surprised, but I didn’t say a single bad word to the referee to deserve a four-game suspension.”
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Unfortunately for Vinicius and Real Madrid, the four-match ban includes next week’s El Clásico away to Barcelona, as well as games against Sevilla (H), Racing Santander (A), and Valencia (A).
The Athletic report that Real Madrid’s appeal against the suspension has been rejected by the Spanish Football Federation’s appeal committee, though the club have indicated they will attempt a further appeal with the Administrative Sports Tribunal.
Unless that second appeal proves significantly more successful than the first, Vinicius is set to miss one of his team’s biggest games of the season next weekend.
Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images