Vinícius Júnior apologised to his Real Madrid team-mates and the club’s supporters after being sent off in Saturday’s 1-0 win over Villarreal at the Santiago Bernabéu.
Spanish media reported that the Brazilian took to social media to react to his dismissal. The forward posted a short message on his Instagram account after the final whistle, having been shown a red card in the 72nd minute.
“The happiness continues. I apologise to my team and its supporters,” the winger wrote. The message combined celebration of the victory with regret at leaving his team-mates a man down during the decisive stage of the match.
A controversial dismissal
The sending-off came at one of the most contentious moments of the evening. Coming on as a second-half substitute, Vinícius struck the ball into the net and briefly appeared to have doubled Real’s lead. The referee, however, disallowed the goal. The official ruled that he had fouled a Villarreal defender in the build-up, pulling Saliba‘s hair during the challenge that preceded the shot.
At the same moment, the referee produced a red card and sent Vinícius off down the tunnel. The Brazilian walked off visibly furious at the decision, gesturing in protest as he went.
Real Madrid were left to protect their lead with ten men. Yan Diomande had scored the only goal of the match in the 63rd minute, and his side held on to win 1-0.
Further frustration online
Not long afterwards, Vinícius expressed his frustration again. He shared a new post on his Instagram stories, voicing his anger at the refereeing treatment he believes he receives time and again.
“The player who always gets both the yellow and the red card is Vinícius, what a disgrace,” the comment read. It was accompanied by a collection of images from different matches in which the player believes opponents avoided a booking despite fouling him or aiming blows at him.