Referee Sánchez Martínez and the video assistant referee landed at the centre of a storm during Real Madrid’s clash with Espanyol. Both waved away a sending-off for Calero after an incident involving the defender and Brazil’s Vinícius Júnior in the opening minutes.
Spanish website “Archivo VAR”, which specialises in analysing refereeing situations, reckons Calero kicked Vinícius while the Real Madrid player was lying on the pitch and play had stopped. The incident warranted a direct red card, the site argued, even though the force of the kick was not great.
Calero’s intention to target Vinícius alone was clear, the website added, as the kick came away from the context of play and while the Brazilian was on the ground. That, they considered, was reason enough for strict disciplinary intervention.
Sánchez Martínez showed no card to the Espanyol player. Nor did the video assistant referee step in to correct the decision, so Calero stayed on the pitch and played on.
The moment grew in significance as the match wore on. Calero got into further confrontations with Vinícius before the pair picked up two yellow cards following an altercation between them, meaning an early red for the Espanyol defender would have completely reshaped the contest.
All of this played out in a charged atmosphere at Espanyol’s stadium. Vinícius clashed more than once with the home side’s players amid crowd chants against him, turning the tie into a magnet for refereeing controversy from the very start.
For the website, then, the standout moment at the start of the match was neither a goal nor a scoring chance. It was a refereeing decision that could have changed the course of Real Madrid’s clash with Espanyol from its opening minutes.