Real Madrid struggled for a long time against a well-organized Villarreal team at the Santiago Bernabéu, during the 8th day of La Liga. Returning from the international break with Güler, Bellingham, Diomandé, Tchouaméni and Mbappé, the Merengues lacked precision in the last gesture. Mbappé notably found the post in the 7th minute, before coming up against Gulacsi a few moments later (25th). Opposite, the Yellow Submarine accelerated at the end of the first period and also created chances, notably through Moleiro and Gueye.
The two teams returned to the locker room with a goalless draw, under the whistles of the Madrid public. But upon returning from the locker room, José Mourinho reshuffled his system, notably with the entry into play of Vinicius Jr. in place of Trent. The opportunities then multiplied, until Diomandé opened the score. Served by Federico Valverde, the Ivorian striker adjusted Gulacsi with a cross shot from the right to score his first goal in the colors of Casa Blanca.
Vinicius Jr sees his goal canceled… before being sent off
But the scenario quickly changed after an action that will shake social networks for a long time. In the 71st minute, Vinicius Jr. thought he doubled the lead, before his goal was canceled after intervention by the video assistance. If the Madrilenians thought it was a foul or an offside, the Brazilian was ultimately penalized for pulling Saliba’s hair at the start of the action. The referee then sent him off, leaving Real Madrid ten against eleven for the end of the match. José Mourinho had already been warned for protest a few minutes earlier.
The end of the match was then completely restarted and Villarreal clearly took control of the game, being in numerical superiority for the last quarter of an hour. Carlos Romero also forced Courtois to pull out all the stops (76th), like Mikautadze (88th). But despite this disaster scenario, Real Madrid held on and regained victory, coming back to within one point of Atlético de Madrid and before facing AS Roma in the Champions League. For its part, Villarreal remains in 11th place.
