Vinicius Junior red card defended despite referee’s damning rating

Real Madrid’s 1-0 victory over Villarreal was overshadowed by the dismissal of Vinicius Junior, although a specialist refereeing account said the forward’s direct red card was justified.

The incident occurred in the 72nd minute of Saturday’s La Liga match at Santiago Bernabeu, just 20 minutes after Vinicius Junior had come on as a substitute. Real Madrid secured an important win in the eighth round of the competition, but the Brazilian’s sending-off became the main talking point.

Archivo VAR, an account on X dedicated to controversial refereeing decisions, said the video assistant referee had made a decisive intervention before the dismissal.

“Saliba collided with Vinicius and the Brazilian player pulled the Villarreal player’s hair in the action before the goal,” the account said.

“It is a direct red card. This incident is classified as unsporting conduct under the regulations.”

The incident was reviewed as part of the build-up to Vinicius’ goal, with the VAR intervention leading to action against the Real Madrid player despite the goal itself being allowed.

Archivo VAR’s backing of the decision contrasted with its assessment of referee Diaz de Mera Escuderos, who received a rating of 1.5 out of 10 for his performance.

The account said the referee appeared “extremely hesitant” in the opening stages and adopted a poor disciplinary standard, taking a long time to show the first yellow cards of the match.

It also criticised the way he handled the behaviour of Jose Mourinho, Real Madrid’s manager, during the game.

“The referee himself unnecessarily inflamed the atmosphere by being lenient with all of Jose Mourinho’s protests and taking several minutes before booking him,” Archivo VAR said.

“He looked like a third-tier referee managing a top-flight match.”

The account also pointed to the need for the referee to consult the video assistant referee when reviewing Vinicius’ goal because of the alleged unsporting conduct in the build-up.

It added that stoppage time followed the same pattern as the rest of the match, describing it as “pure chaos” and criticising the lack of authority shown by the referee.

The assessment was published on 10 October 2026, alongside footage of the incident and the caption: “Surgical VAR intervention at Santiago Bernabeu.”

Real Madrid’s narrow win over Villarreal therefore included both a crucial three points and a controversial dismissal, with Archivo VAR supporting the red card while delivering a strongly negative verdict on the overall refereeing performance.