Vinicius Jr to miss Camp Nou clash as he serves second game of four-match LaLiga ban

Real Madrid will be without Vinicius Jr when they travel to Camp Nou to face Barcelona in LaLiga on Sunday night, the 265th edition of El Clásico, because he is serving the second match of a four-game suspension.

The fixture pits Los Blancos against league leaders Barcelona with Real Madrid sitting third on 21 points, six behind their rivals, and entering the game as slight underdogs. Madrid had recovered with two successive league wins but also suffered a 2-1 defeat to Atletico Madrid on September 20, leaving their form mixed heading into the encounter.

The suspension stems from a straight red card Vinicius received in Real Madrid’s 1-0 victory over Villarreal on October 10. He had initially scored what would have been Madrid’s second goal, but a VAR review overturned the goal after identifying he had pulled Villarreal defender Nathan Saliba’s hair during the build-up.

After the red card, Vinicius reacted angrily towards the official and was restrained by teammate Antonio Rudiger. The Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) imposed a four-match LaLiga ban: two matches for the hair-pulling incident and two matches for his reaction to the referee.

Vinicius missed Real Madrid’s 4-1 win against Sevilla on October 18 and is therefore unavailable for Sunday’s trip to Barcelona; the suspension also covers Madrid’s forthcoming LaLiga fixtures against Racing Santander and Valencia. Manager Jose Mourinho named Ivorian winger Yan Diomande, a summer signing from RB Leipzig, to start in the Sevilla match, where Diomande scored and provided an assist.

Vinicius’s absence will see him miss the Barcelona fixture plus the confirmed LaLiga matches at Racing Santander and against Valencia while serving the remainder of his four-match suspension.