(The Turkish Post) – Real Madrid’s 26-year-old Brazilian forward Vinicius Jr. was banned for four matches on Oct. 14 by the disciplinary committee of the Royal Spanish Football Federation and will miss El Clasico against Barcelona on Oct. 25. Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho criticized the timing of the decision, which was announced hours before his team played Roma in the Champions League.
The committee gave Vinicius two matches for violent conduct and two more for protesting to the officials after his red card in Real Madrid’s 1-0 La Liga win over Villarreal on Oct. 10.
Vinicius sent off for pulling an opponent’s hair
Vinicius came on as a substitute against Villarreal at the Bernabéu and appeared to have doubled Real Madrid’s lead. Video review showed that he had pulled the hair of Villarreal’s Nathan Saliba in the build-up. Referee Isidro Díaz de Mera checked the incident on the pitchside monitor, disallowed the goal and sent the Brazilian off.
The committee said the first part of the ban was for behaving violently while not in a position to challenge for the ball. The second part concerns his conduct toward the referee after the dismissal.
Yan Diomande scored the only goal of the match, his first for the club. Vinicius apologized on social media to his teammates and the club’s fans after the game.
Four La Liga matches including El Clasico
The suspension applies to domestic league matches. Vinicius will miss the home game against Sevilla on Oct. 18, El Clasico against Barcelona in Barcelona on Oct. 25, the trip to Racing Santander on Nov. 1 and the away match at Valencia on Nov. 7.
He remains available for the Champions League and started against Roma at the Stadio Olimpico on Oct. 14. Real Madrid trail Barcelona, the La Liga leaders, by six points.
Mourinho attacks the timing of the ban
Mourinho said the team learned of the decision shortly before the match in Rome. He questioned why the federation could not have announced it after the match or the following morning, and said a player should not be hit with such news two hours before a European game.
“It doesn’t seem normal to me,” Mourinho said, adding that the federation now acted without shame.
Real Madrid come back to beat Roma 4-3
On the pitch, Real Madrid came from 3-1 down to win 4-3 in Rome. Marten de Roon gave Roma the lead in the 20th minute, and Kylian Mbappé equalized five minutes later. Donyell Malen then scored twice for the Italian side early in the second half.
Carlos Espí pulled one back in the 83rd minute, Endrick equalized two minutes later, and Antonio Rüdiger scored the winner in the 90th minute. Türkiye international Arda Güler provided two assists in the comeback.
Mourinho’s return to Real Madrid
Mourinho returned to Real Madrid for a second spell in July, after the club named him coach on June 11 on a contract until June 2029. He succeeded Álvaro Arbeloa and had previously managed the club from 2010 to 2013.
His relationship with Vinicius drew attention in February, when he was in charge of Benfica. After a Champions League playoff match in Lisbon on Feb. 17, in which Vinicius said Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni had directed a racist slur at him, Mourinho said there was “something wrong” because incidents happened in every stadium where Vinicius played. Prestianni denied the accusation. The match was halted for about 10 minutes under FIFA’s anti-racism protocol, and Real Madrid won 1-0 with a goal from Vinicius.
Real Madrid host Sevilla in La Liga on Oct. 18, the first of the four matches Vinicius must sit out.
