Huge anger at Real Madrid over the paradox of Vinicius's sending-off and the disregard of the Valverde incident
Behind the scenes in the dressing room
The anger inside Real Madrid over refereeing decisions continues, despite the difficult win over Villarreal, with the club's players objecting to the inconsistency in how controversial incidents are handled, particularly comparing Vinicius Junior's sending off for pulling his opponent's hair with the decision not to award a foul against Fede Valverde in a previous match.
According to Spanish newspaper Marca, the row inside Real Madrid over refereeing rumbled on just hours after that gruelling victory against Villarreal. Los Blancos players made no secret of their astonishment in the dressing room at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Vinicius Junior's sending off was only one part of it. The players accepted the punishment may well have been correct, but the group could not understand why the video assistant referee had ignored incidents that could have gone Real Madrid's way in other matches, the recent derby among them.
One of them spoke up after Saturday's win over the Yellow Submarines: "Hair-pulling cannot lead to a red card, while the tackle Valverde was subjected to in the last match goes unpunished."
That dismissal was not the only grievance. The referee handed out five yellow cards and a red to Madrid players, who committed just eight fouls. Villarreal gave away 13 fouls and picked up two bookings.
Worse still, in the players' eyes, was the "condescending" treatment they say they got from referee Diaz de Mera's assistants and the fourth official, the latter clashing with Jose Mourinho repeatedly through the game.
Mourinho finished the match in a fury and decided to skip the post-match press conference altogether.
He told those close to him: "I will not speak because I want to sit on the bench in the matches against Sevilla and Barcelona."
Konate and Vinicius: two contrasting cases
Vinicius Junior was, naturally, the player hit hardest by all this. He started on the bench, lifted Madrid's attack the moment he came on, then produced the incident that dominated every headline afterwards.
The Brazilian told his teammates the clash with Saliba was unintentional and that he never meant to hurt his opponent, who carried on playing during the move that ended with the forward's goal being ruled out.
His teammates bought the number 7's account. "He is incapable of doing that," they said.
With Diaz de Mera recording the details of the incident in his report, Real Madrid expect Vinicius Junior to miss the Clasico against Barcelona on 25 October. The punishment is expected to be no less than two matches, even if the club wins an appeal.
Konate's case is a different story. Madrid will appeal the yellow card he collected in the closing minutes for an alleged foul on Gerard Moreno. The footage shows the defender did not touch the Villarreal forward, hence the club's confidence that the booking will be overturned.
Should it stand, it will be the defender's fourth yellow card in just eight Spanish league matches.
Last season he picked up only seven yellow cards in 36 Premier League games.
