Vinicius Jr at Real Madrid · 13 October 2026
Vinicius sent off for a hair pull as Madrid beat Villarreal
Vinícius Júnior was sent off in Real Madrid's 1-0 home win over Villarreal on Saturday 10 October. After a VAR review, the referee ruled that he had pulled the hair of Villarreal's Nathan Saliba at the start of a move that ended with a goal for Vinícius. The goal was disallowed and he was shown a straight red card. Al Jazeera and AP-sourced reports agree on this.
Yan Diomande scored the only goal, his first for Madrid, from a Federico Valverde pass in the second half. It was first ruled out for offside and then given on review. Outlets differ on the timing: reports put it at about the 62nd or 63rd minute, and one has the red card at the 72nd.
Vinícius was visibly furious leaving the pitch and team-mates had to calm him, according to the reports. He apologised afterwards on Instagram to his team-mates and the fans, without naming Saliba.
The ban is not decided. Reuters says the sanction for violent conduct without injury to an opponent is one to three matches. Early Spanish analysis cited elsewhere suggested two to three, and some estimates go to four. No disciplinary committee ruling had been reported at the time of writing. Madrid visit Barcelona on 25 October, and a ban of two games or more could rule him out of that Clasico.
I could not verify his minutes before the red card, a rating, or how the Bernabéu crowd treated him in this game, so none of that is here. Mourinho was reported to have skipped the post-match press conference in protest at the refereeing; that rests on one source and I have not repeated his words. The win kept Madrid third, six points behind Barcelona.
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