the brazilian Vinícius Junior despaired when he received a new yellow card, the third consecutive in his last three games and the twelfth in the season with the most reprimands of his career, shown by the referee Jorge Figueroa Vazquez 32 minutes into the league duel against Espanyol, in which with his goal he became Carlo Ancelotti’s highest scoring player this season.
Vinícius struggled to steal a ball from the rival and cut off a dangerous counterattack in the Espanyol field. He ran, body-dipped and ended up knocking down Rubén Sánchez before despairing when he saw how the referee showed him the yellow card. Incredulous at the punishment, the Brazilian raised his hands to his face, dropped to the grass and made clemency gestures towards the sky.
It is his eighth card in LaLiga Santander, which makes him the third most cautioned player in the competition after Alex Baena from Villarreal and Javi Sánchez from Real Valladolid. Vinícius had to be calmed down in his protests by the German Toni Kroos.
The streak of ‘Vini’ with the cards is very negative. He has been booked against Barcelona, Betis and Espanyol in his last three games, with a total of up to ten yellow cards in the last fourteen games he has played.
Of the eight cards received by Vinícius in LaLiga, six received them in the first half. Arbitration punishments that conditioned his matches, although against Espanyol he did not star in any risky action that could cost him expulsion and miss the decisive classic at the Camp Nou next Sunday.
It contrasts as of the twelve reprimands received by the Brazilian striker, up to eleven received them in Spanish competitions, eight in LaLiga and three in their three Copa del Rey games. In ten matches played in international competitions this season between the Champions League, the European Super Cup and the Club World Cup, ‘Vini’ barely received one in his last game against Liverpool at Anfield.
Carlo Ancelotti, Real Madrid coach, is discussing this problem with his player. Vinicius He is the player most punished with fouls in European football, with a total of 139, four suffered against Espanyol, but the yellow ones are received by him for his reactions. Of his twelve cards, in today’s game it was the fourth he received for fouling his rival.
Vinícius is the player who has received the most cards this season in the Real Madrid squad with twelve, ahead of Eduardo Camavinga’s seven, Nacho Fernández’s six and Dani Carvajal, Fede Valverde and Luka Modric’s five.
On the positive side, the Brazilian was once again Real Madrid’s great offensive reference, assuming the weight of his team in the absence of Karim Benzema, whom he surpassed as the top scorer of the season with his 19th goal. In an individual action, facing two rivals and adjusting his shot to the post, he scored the goal that tied Espanyol and began the Madrid comeback.
