Vinícius Apologizes to His Teammates for Red Card Against Valencia

Vinícius Júnior, who won the FIFA Best Player of the Year award, apologized to his Real Madrid teammates after receiving a red card in the match where Real Madrid triumphed over Valencia on Friday.

The Brazilian star was shown a red card in the 79th minute after pushing Valencia’s goalkeeper, Stol Dimitrievski, in the neck while Real Madrid was trailing 0-1.

Despite being reduced to 10 men, Real Madrid managed to turn the game around and won dramatically 2-1 in the final moments.

Vinícius wrote on the social media platform (X): “Sorry, and thank you to the team.”

After Luka Modrić equalized in the 85th minute, Jude Bellingham scored the winning goal in the fifth minute of stoppage time, securing the victory for Real Madrid. Bellingham, the former Borussia Dortmund player, had missed a penalty earlier in the match.

Vinícius may face a lengthy suspension, but Carlo Ancelotti, the team’s coach, confirmed that the club would appeal the decision.

The Italian coach stated: “We will file an appeal. I don’t know if they will accept it. We believe the incident didn’t deserve a red card.”

Ancelotti hinted that Dimitrievski provoked Vinícius by pulling on his shirt.

He added: “If the referee had given both of them yellow cards, the matter would have ended. I don’t want to say he fell into a trap, but Vinícius was suffering.”

Real Madrid’s next match is against Minera in the Copa del Rey next Monday.