Real Madrid’s Champions League night in Rome will be Vinicius Junior’s last club appearance before a four-match domestic suspension removes him from the league schedule, including the Clásico at Camp Nou. The forward has been punished for his sending-off against Villarreal last Saturday and will not return to league action until after the next international break, expected on 21 November.
What the night decided
The disciplinary ruling splits Vinicius’s ban into two separate two-match sanctions. He received the first for pulling Saliba’s hair while the ball was not in play, an offence carrying a minimum two-game penalty under Article 130.2 of the RFEF disciplinary code.
The incident came in the 70th minute as a Real Madrid counter-attack developed. The move initially ended in a goal, but VAR intervened and referee Díaz de Mera Escuderos reviewed the footage before showing Vinicius a straight red card and disallowing the goal.
The referee’s report then proved decisive. It recorded that the hair-pull occurred away from the ball, while Vinicius’s reaction to the dismissal was described as aggressive enough for team-mates to restrain him. That conduct brought a further two-game suspension under Article 127.
During the confrontation, Vinicius pushed La Liga’s match director and used an insulting expression about the competition. Real Madrid had hoped the post-red-card behaviour might be treated more leniently, particularly as the report did not formally cite insults. The club believed an appeal was unlikely to overturn the main offence but had sought to limit the overall punishment to two matches.
Instead, the four-game ban means Vinicius will miss Sevilla, Barcelona at Camp Nou, Racing Santander and Valencia at Mestalla. He will watch the Clásico from Madrid rather than take part in the defining league fixture.
Madrid are angered especially by the additional two matches for his reaction, believing that part of the punishment could have been limited to one. The club intend to appeal in an effort to reduce the ban to three games, and consider the decision further evidence of what they see as unfavourable treatment from Spanish officiating structures.
The return or the next round
Vinicius remains eligible for Europe and is due to play in Rome tonight. Once that match is over, the Champions League will be his only available club competition until the domestic suspension and the international break have passed.
His expected league return is in the 13th round on 21 November, leaving Real Madrid without one of their principal attacking players for roughly six weeks of league football.
Konaté cleared ahead of Camp Nou
There was better news for Real Madrid in the same set of disciplinary decisions. Konaté’s yellow card from the Villarreal match has been rescinded after footage showed that he did not make contact with Gerard Moreno.
The reversal matters beyond the immediate fixture. The booking would have been his fourth of the campaign, leaving him one caution from a suspension that could have ruled him out of the Clásico. He can now face Sevilla without that immediate threat hanging over him and has a clearer path towards the trip to Camp Nou.
