Top News

Real Madrid may have opened their 2026/27 La Liga campaign with three points, but the first weekend of the season was once again followed by a familiar controversy away from the field.

After the victory over Espanyol, Real Madrid TV returned to one of the subjects it has most often debated: refereeing decisions involving the senior team.

This time, the club’s official television channel centred its attention on the treatment received by Vinicius Jr. and made a direct comparison with Barcelona youngster Lamine Yamal.

The foundation of their argument was that Vinicius was fouled repeatedly without Espanyol players being shown yellow cards, whereas Lamine Yamal was given more protection in a similar situation.

Real Madrid’s opening-day win arrived thanks to a late goal from Carlo Espi, which secured all three points, but the game itself was far from lacking in tension.

Vinicius was involved in several tense exchanges with Espanyol players and supporters, while Real Madrid TV closely examined the referee’s decisions across the match.

One moment in particular drew the attention of the club’s channel. An early challenge by Cala on Vinicius was highlighted as a possible yellow-card offence in the third minute.

Real Madrid TV was highly critical of referee Sanchez Martinez for allowing play to continue without producing a booking, arguing that the call shaped the tone of the rest of the contest.

The channel said: “Sanchez Martinez did not show him the yellow card.

“This was the first major decision of the referee from the city of Murcia, and he would continue along this approach, alongside Figueroa Vazquez in the video assistant referee technology.”

Real Madrid TV went a step further, accusing the match officials of being overly lenient with challenges on Vinicius.

It claimed the officials were “extremely lenient with the violent fouls committed by Espanyol’s players, especially those to which Vinicius was subjected.”

According to the channel, several of the fouls on the Brazilian seemed intended to “take him out of the match’s atmosphere,” yet they still did not lead to the cards Real Madrid believed were warranted.

The most striking part of the video came when Real Madrid TV compared the treatment of Vinicius with that of Lamine Yamal.

The Barcelona forward was used as an example to question the consistency of refereeing decisions in La Liga.

Real Madrid TV pointed to an incident involving Yamal in which an opposition player was shown a yellow card after only a slight tug on the youngster.

The channel then contrasted that situation with the repeated fouls suffered by Vinicius against Espanyol.

“Lamine’s fouls are penalised with a yellow card at the slightest contact,” the channel claimed.

Finally, Real Madrid TV also argued that Cala should have been shown a red card for a later challenge on Alvaro Carreras.