Real Madrid often experience turbulent events at Mestalla, but yesterday they had to deal with all of that. To begin, Valencia and its supporters expressed their gratitude for the solidarity and support given to those affected by the DANA disaster. This disaster pushed the white club to rally around this cause, ultimately leading to the postponement of this match for several months. The meeting finally took place yesterday, at the start of the new year, and after a moment of appreciation, the battle began, as is usually expected during visits from Madrid to Valencia.
The Ancelotti-led team quickly found themselves behind and had to fight against the tide to pick up three points and climb to the top of the table. The orange-clad players overcame a missed penalty from Bellingham, which hit the post, as did what appeared to be an equalizer from Mbappé. The latter executed a brilliant maneuver against Dimitrievski, but the goal was ruled out for offside. It was the Frenchman’s sixth goal disallowed this season due to an incorrect position. Another blow to Madrid’s morale came when they were reduced to ten men after Vinicius’ red card, his second in two appearances at the Mestalla. The Brazilian bit at Dimitrievski’s provocation, placing both hands around the Valencia goalkeeper’s neck, leading VAR to summon the referee. Only a distant aerial image of the incident was shown to the referee, who deemed this sufficient to show a straight red card for assault.
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In the television broadcast, closer footage showed that the impact was not strong enough to send the goalkeeper to the ground in that manner. This was similar to Vinicius’ previous sending off on this same pitch, and it remains to be seen how many matches the striker could receive as a result. His teammates turned things around without him, and he wanted to express his gratitude from the locker room, declaring on social media: “Sorry and thank you, team!” Ancelotti added: “We believe it was not a red card; we will appeal. Without it we reacted well.”
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