itstargetnews
Vinicius Jr had to be physically restrained in the tunnel as Real Madrid’s 3-0 win over Mallorca on Thursday ended in a brawl.
The Brazil international has been involved in a long-running war of words with Mallorca right-back Pablo Maffeo, who previously joked about knocking out Vinicius “in ten seconds” if the pair ever clashed.
A few minutes into Thursday’s game, tensions between the two players escalated. Maffeo shoved Vinicius, who responded by slapping the Mallorca defender on the chest, knocking him to the ground in dramatic fashion.
Before Madrid’s star forward was penalized for no fewer than five fouls on Maffeo, Vinicius was caught on camera calling Maffeo “terrible” as he vowed to knock Mallorca out of the competition.
Jude Bellingham opened the scoring Madrid Shortly after the hour mark. Vinicius was withdrawn with two minutes remaining, then a 95th-minute goal and strike from Rodrigo removed any doubt about the outcome.
Maffeo’s reaction to the third goal was enough to spark a reaction from both Bellingham and centre-back Raul Asensio, who was at the center of a heated brawl as the game ended.
At the final whistle and footage of Vinicius himself embroiled in the controversy, he was physically restrained down the tunnel as he tried to make his way to the Mallorca side.
“We’re not talking about that, it’s what he wants,” Madrid midfielder Aurelien Choumeni said of Maffeo after the game.
The ugly nature of the game’s conclusion frustrated Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti.
“It was an unnecessary fight for both teams,” he told the press. “It doesn’t make any sense.
“It was unnecessary, the game was already over. I don’t blame anyone, neither the Mallorca players nor the Real Madrid players. But such a ‘fight’ was unnecessary. The players were a bit heated and I tried to calm things down. A little went down with Maffeo, nothing happened in the end.
