Vinicius Jr handed four-game ban to miss El Clasico after Villarreal red card

Vinicius Jr will miss Real Madrid’s La Liga clash against Barcelona on 25 October after Spain’s Football Federation disciplinary committee handed the Brazil forward a four-match ban on Wednesday, ruling him out of fixtures against Sevilla, Barcelona, Racing Santander and Valencia.

The winger was sent off during Saturday’s 1-0 win over Villarreal after VAR review showed him pulling the hair of defender Nathan Saliba as the pair sprinted down the field during the build-up to what appeared to be his second goal of the match. Referee Isidro Diaz de Mera was called to the monitor before disallowing the strike and showing Vinicius a straight red card in the 73rd minute, forcing Madrid to play out the remainder of the game with 10 men.

The disciplinary committee issued a two-match ban for the red card and added a further two games for Vinicius’s protests toward the referee in the aftermath of the dismissal, according to the official report from the eighth round of La Liga fixtures.

The suspension leaves coach Jose Mourinho without one of his most heavily used forwards for the trip to Camp Nou, where league leaders Barcelona currently hold a six-point advantage over Real Madrid in the table. Vinicius has started all but one of Real’s matches this season.

Mourinho himself was at the centre of the post-match fallout. The manager had initially joined the goal celebrations before the VAR intervention, and the eventual red card left him visibly furious on the touchline — he was repeatedly restrained by backroom staff and was already carrying a yellow card from earlier in the fixture. He subsequently skipped the mandatory post-match press conference, reportedly fearing that comments about the refereeing could trigger a suspension of his own.

Following the incident, Vinicius took to Instagram to address his teammates and supporters. “Sorry to my team and my fans,” he wrote. He did not extend the apology to Saliba.