Real Madrid star Vinicius Junior changed his tune after the first match of 2025 as he was generally reluctant to admit fault in his grievances with the referees. However, after he was sent off against Valencia, he apologized to his teammates on social media.
The Brazilian had received eight yellow cards in his 20 appearances this season before their trip to Mestalla, most of them for dissent, and he lost his cool again against Valencia. After chants of 'stupid' and 'beach ball' [referencing the golden ball or Ballon d’Or] Throughout the match, Valencia goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski got in his face and demanded he get up after falling in the penalty area.
However, Vinicius fell into the trap and shoved his hands in Dimitrievsky's face. After a VAR review, Vinicius was dismissed. After Los Blancos emerged victorious thanks to Jude Bellingham's injury-time winner, Vinicius wrote 'sorry and thank you team' on his X/Twitter account.
Manager Carlo Ancelotti in the aftermath called the sending-off unfair and said Los Blancos would appeal, although he did not say on what grounds.
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