Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr will miss the first Clasico of the season against Barcelona after the Spanish Football Federation’s disciplinary committee handed him a four-match suspension on Wednesday.Vinicius was sent off during Real’s 1-0 win over Villarreal on Saturday after pulling Nathan Saliba’s hair shortly after coming on as a substitute. According to the disciplinary report for the eighth round of LaLiga fixtures, the committee handed him a two-match ban for the red-card offence and added another two matches for protesting to the referee.Vinicius was part of the Brazilian squad which defeated India 4-0 in the friendly match earlier this month in Kolkata.The suspension rules Vinicius out of league games against Sevilla, Barcelona, Racing Santander and Valencia. Real manager Jose Mourinho will therefore be without one of his forwards for the trip to Camp Nou on October 25.Vinicius has started all but one of Real’s matches this season. He apologised to his teammates and Real Madrid fans on social media after the incident.The Clasico comes at an important stage of the title race, with Barcelona leading Real by six points in the league standings.
Mourinho blasts ‘shameless’ timing of ban
Mourinho criticised the timing of the announcement, which came just hours before Real’s Champions League match against Roma on Wednesday. The suspension will keep Vinicius out of a key run of league fixtures, including the Clasico against Barcelona.Vinicius started as Real produced a late comeback to beat Roma 4-3 in the Champions League. Mourinho’s side had trailed 3-1 with seven minutes remaining before turning the match around.Speaking at his post-match press conference, Mourinho questioned why the decision had been announced so close to kick-off, saying it had disrupted the team’s preparations.Mourinho said: “Do you think it’s normal that a player from a Spanish team, who has to play a match that is also important for Spanish football, that two hours before the match a player knows he’s been given a four-match suspension?“Couldn’t they do it now? Couldn’t they do it tomorrow morning? Do we have to come by bus and almost arrive at the stadium when we find out Vinicius has a four-match suspension?”Mourinho added: “They do things shamelessly now. The cat is out of the bag now. Two hours before the match, a player must know he has a four-match suspension.”
