Real Madrid Forward Vinicius Set to Miss El Clasico Clash

On Saturday evening, as Real Madrid picked up an important three points at home to Villarreal in La Liga, a bizarre, never seen before incident occurred in the second half. 

With around 20 minutes of the game remaining, Vinicius Jr got on the end of a cutback from Jude Bellingham to make it 2-0, and everything seemed normal. Parity had been restored. Vinicius was back. 

But he wasn't. Quite the opposite in fact. VAR spotted the Brazilian forward pulling back the hair of Villarreal midfielder Nathan-Dylan Saliba in the build up. So, not only was the goal disallowed, but Vinicius was shown a straight red card by the referee. 

It feels harsh, but ultimately they are the rules, that were introduced at the start of last season. We saw this in the Premier League last season, when Michael Keane (Everton) pulled down the hair of Mateus Mane (Wolves) and was shown a straight red card as a result.

This has lead to many wondering: How many games will he be suspended for? 1 or 3? Perhaps in the middle with 2? We are still waiting some sort of official confirmation. 

However, there have been some reports in the media. COPE (via MadridXtra), Vinicius will miss El Clasico with Barcelona (two La Liga games away), as he is set to be suspended for "minimum" two games. 

Meanwhile, Arancha Rodriguez (again via MadridXtra), state that the club believe he will be suspended for three games, with an appeal potentially taking it down to two games. Either way, he would miss the Clasico as a result. Reminder: The suspension is domestic, so does not take into account the UEFA Champions League games with AS Roma and RB Leipzig.

If the suspension is two games, he would miss Real Madrid's clashes with Sevilla (home), and Barcelona (away). If it is three games, he would miss those two games as well as Racing Club (away). 

When it rains, it pours. It just really isn't going Vinicius' way this season. Just when you think he has got his name back on the scoresheet, not only is that not the case, but he is sent off instead. Just absolutely brutal. 

Having been on the bench to begin with against Villarreal, you get the idea that Jose Mourinho will start him in Rome on Wednesday night. A chance to try and play his way back into form. To give him a chance to boost his confidence after this. Plus, he will not be available for a while in La Liga, so you want to keep his sharpness up as much as you can.