Controversy once again sparked Valencia’s pitch. Whereas Real Madrid’s Brazilian star Vinicius Jr. was the victim of racist abuse the previous season. Although it didn’t exactly happen on the same field, the referee’s decision raised tension at the last minute. Carlo Ancelotti’s men left the field with a draw after Jude Bellingham’s goal was disallowed and Vinny scored twice.
Valencia hosted Real last night (Saturday) at the Mestalla Stadium. Real stumbled a bit when the hosts advanced in two rounds. Although Vinicius found a way to free them from that situation, But in the end, Los Blancos did not win. The Real-Valencia match ended 2-2.
The end of the match was shrouded in drama and controversy. Bellingham sent the ball into the net with a header from Brahim Diaz’s cross. Just at that moment, the referee blew the final whistle of the match. Excited by this, the real footballers protested. At one point, the referee showed a red card to Bellingham, who reacted angrily. He returned to the field for this match after three weeks of recovering from an ankle injury. The English midfielder had a bitter experience in the return match.
Earlier, despite showing dominance for most of the first half of the match, Real were a shadow of themselves in the attack. On the contrary, they conceded two goals in a span of three minutes. Which starts in the 27th minute. Both times, it was the responsibility of the defense. Valencia’s Hugo Duro took the lead with a great header from a teammate’s cross after a Real defender lost the ball. Then the experienced Dani Carvajal also made a mistake. Valencia’s Roman Yaremchuk swooped in for a back-pass to goalkeeper Andrey Lunin, then dribbled past him and into the net.
The visitors’ discomfort eased towards the end of the first half. In the fifth minute of added time, Carvajal’s cross was touched by the home goalkeeper. But as he failed to clear, the ball touched Rodrigo’s leg and went to Vinny’s leg. A Brazilian forward narrows Real’s gap with a shot from close range.
After the break, it was attack after attack. Both Real and Valencia had scoring opportunities but failed to capitalize. Ancelotti then substituted Luka Modric for Toni Kroos and Brahim Diaz for Rodrigo. Vini equalized in the 76th minute with a cross from Diaz. Although Valencia claimed offside, VAR upheld the referee’s decision.
The referee blew the whistle for a penalty when Valencia’s Duro went down in Real’s box at the start of added time. But VAR changed that decision. After that, goalkeeper Lunin saved Real from the face of the goal. The final drama takes place at the final whistle. The referee blows the final whistle as soon as Bellingham puts the ball in the net. About which there is a fierce discussion on the football field.
Despite this draw, Real is at the top with 66 points from 20 wins in 27 matches. After playing one less match, second-placed Girona has 59 points, and third-placed Barcelona has 57 points. Valencia is number 9 with 37 points.
