Madrid’s evening ended with three points against Villarreal, but the conversation around the Santiago Bernabéu quickly travelled beyond the 1-0 result. Real Madrid’s club television channel used the match to renew its attack on La Liga’s refereeing standards, pointing to Vinicius Junior’s dismissal, a disallowed goal and what it described as uneven use of VAR across the competition.
A difficult cameo for Vinicius
- Vinicius began the eighth-round La Liga fixture on the bench before coming on during Real Madrid’s 1-0 win over Villarreal.
- The Brazilian had a goal ruled out during his appearance.
- He was later sent off after pulling the hair of Villarreal defender Nathan Saliba, leaving Madrid to finish the match with a red card on their record.
Real Madrid TV argued that the punishment for Vinicius was inconsistent with a previous incident involving Marcelo. The channel recalled a 2020 match against Alavés in which Victor Laguardia pulled Marcelo’s hair inside the penalty area, with neither a penalty nor a red card given.
Its commentators said Vinicius had done no more and no less than what Marcelo had faced, and claimed that VAR repeatedly fails to step in at crucial moments. They described the league as compromised, allegations made by the club broadcaster rather than established findings.
Cards and the Atlético comparison
The broadcast also focused on Real Madrid’s disciplinary count against Villarreal. Madrid received eight yellow cards, including three shown to members of the coaching staff, as well as Vinicius’s red card. The channel complained that the total exceeded the number of fouls it believed the team had committed.
The criticism was then directed across the capital towards Atlético Madrid’s recent fixtures. Real Madrid TV maintained that Kang-In Lee and Cristian “Cuti” Romero should have been dismissed in the derby played before the most recent international break, a match Atlético won 2-1.
- In the derby, the broadcaster argued that Romero’s challenge on Jude Bellingham warranted a red card, while it also questioned Kang-In Lee’s continued presence on the pitch.
- Both players were available for Atlético’s following match against Alavés on Saturday.
- Atlético beat Alavés 2-1, with Romero scoring the winning goal.
- Real Madrid TV compared Romero’s challenge on Bellingham with Ángel Pérez’s tackle on Julián in that Alavés match.
- After VAR official Pulido Santana asked for a review, the referee changed his initial decision and sent Ángel Pérez off.
Madrid’s channel said the contrast exposed different thresholds for Atlético and Real Madrid. It called Romero’s earlier challenge “criminal” and insisted it should have brought the same sanction as Pérez’s. Its commentators went further, asking whether the competition was being distorted and alleging corruption, amid another forceful public broadside over officiating in Spain.
