Vinicius Jr suspended for four matches and absent from Real Madrid’s LaLiga clash with Sevilla

Vinicius Jr was handed a four-match suspension following a red card in Real Madrid’s 1-0 win over Villarreal at the Santiago Bernabeu last weekend and missed Real Madrid’s LaLiga meeting with Sevilla today. The ban was imposed by the disciplinary body of the Spanish Football Federation.

A VAR review during the Villarreal game determined Vinicius had grabbed the hair of Villarreal midfielder Nathan Saliba during the build-up to what would be considered his second goal of the match. The disciplinary authority assigned a four-match suspension, with two matches attributed to the hair-pulling incident and two matches for his attitude to the referee after being sent off. Real Madrid lodged an appeal seeking a reduction in the sanction.

That appeal was rejected on Friday 16 October, leaving the original four-match suspension in place. As a result of the decision, Vinicius was unavailable for selection for the club’s domestic fixtures covered by the ban.

The suspension rules him out of the LaLiga fixture against Sevilla, next weekend’s Clásico against Barcelona, the trip to Racing Santander and the visit to Valencia. The ban applies only to domestic competitions, so Vinicius remains eligible for Real Madrid’s Champions League matches during the same period.

On the field this season Vinicius has scored one goal in 10 appearances for club and country this campaign. The report described that return as a slump compared with his previous standards and noted there are few opportunities for him to play his way back to form before the international break in November.

With the appeal dismissed on Friday 16 October, Vinicius will be absent from next weekend’s Clásico against Barcelona. He will, however, be available for Real Madrid’s European fixtures that fall inside the suspension period.