After kicking Vinicius while he was down: Calatrava justifies what happened in a surprising manner

What did he say?

Refereeing controversy has engulfed Real Madrid once again. Brazilian Vinícius Júnior found himself at the centre of an incident that sparked the fury of Portuguese coach José Mourinho, after the winger was kicked while lying on the ground and referee showed Espanyol's Álex Calatrava no card whatsoever.

Calatrava insisted the incident deserved no punishment, arguing in comments carried by the Spanish website "Defensa Central" that it came in the course of competing for the ball. He stressed that both the referee and the video assistant referee technology judged it unintentional.

"During the play with Vinícius, I tried to pass the ball and then I stopped. It was completely unintentional, and the referee and the video technology interpreted the matter that way," the Espanyol player said, insisting that the decision not to book him was, in his view, the fair one.

Widespread criticism followed. The replay showed Calatrava kicking Vinícius from behind while the Brazilian lay on the ground, an incident many felt warranted at least a yellow card, especially with the ball out of the Espanyol player's reach and no real chance of playing it.

The irony didn't end there. Calatrava picked up a yellow card before the break in another clash with Vinícius, which only fuelled the debate over the first incident, given that a booking then could have left him facing a later dismissal.

For Real Madrid fans, the episode stirred memories of another controversial moment at Espanyol's stadium, when Carlos Romero flew in from behind on Kylian Mbappé with a tackle at knee level. That challenge also escaped a red card, and Romero went on to score his side's winner.

Two seasons on, controversy has returned to the Cornellà stadium. This time the ending was different: Real Madrid walked away with all three points, while Calatrava found himself at the heart of a fresh storm over what happened with Vinícius.