La Liga: Madrid’s Vinicius banned for four games, to miss El Clásico

Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr has been handed a four-match suspension that will rule him out of the upcoming El Clásico against Barcelona. According to BBC Sport and BBC Sport Football, the Brazil international was sent off during Real Madrid's 1-0 win against Villarreal last Saturday for pulling Nathan Saliba's hair. The referee disallowed a goal Vinicius thought he had scored after reviewing the incident on the pitchside monitor.

The Spanish football federation's disciplinary committee issued the ban, which Yahoo Sports notes includes a two-game suspension for violent conduct away from the play and an additional two-game suspension for dissent toward officials. Vinicius Jr released a social media message apologizing to the team and fans for the incident.

The suspension means the winger will miss matches against Sevilla on October 18, Barcelona on October 25, Racing Santander on November 1, and Valencia on November 7. Yahoo Sports reports that Vinicius is expected to return to domestic competition when Real Madrid plays Celta Vigo on November 22.

Brief written by urgent.news from Punch, Punch Nigeria, BBC Sport Football, BBC Sport, Yahoo Sports — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.