ไทย
English
中國人
Tempers flared at the interval during Real Madrid's 3–0 victory over Valencia on Saturday, as a multi-player "scuffle" broke out in the Mestalla tunnel.
Madrid carried a 2–0 advantage into the break, with goals from Federico Valverde and Arda Güler putting the pressure on La Liga's bottom-placed club.
Yet things could have gone differently for Los Che. Guido Rodríguez believed he had given the hosts the lead after 20 minutes, only for the effort to be disallowed for a marginal offside. Shortly after, Real Madrid seized control when Valverde thundered home from distance in his trademark style, following Kylian Mbappé's free kick that had cannoned back off the defensive wall.
That free kick had come about after Pablo Maffeo pushed Mbappé as he bore down on goal near the edge of the box, earning him a yellow card. The only debate at that point seemed to be whether Maffeo had gotten off lightly with just a booking. However, football is nothing if not a sport of differing perspectives, and that was clearly not the view held by Valencia sporting director Braulio Vázquez.
What Happened in the Tunnel?
According to MARCA, Braulio confronted assistant referee Iván Massó in the tunnel once the half-time whistle sounded, repeatedly yelling "It's not a foul. It's not a foul. Unbelievable!"
It is then alleged that Jude Bellingham "grabbed Braulio's suit" in what appeared to be an effort to pull him away from Massó.
This reportedly served as the trigger for a "tangana" (roughly translated as a brawl or scuffle) involving players from both teams. "Hands were thrown," as security personnel stepped in, with one guard allegedly catching an accidental blow to the face from unused substitute Antonio Rüdiger's swinging arms.
There is no indication that Rüdiger could face any disciplinary action for the contact that MARCA refers to as a "slap" and AS describes as a "punch."
Fellow centre-back Ibrahima Konaté reportedly played peacemaker, urging everyone to "calm down."
It is claimed that Valencia hold video footage of the tunnel incident capturing the chaos, and the club are puzzled as to why it was omitted from the referee's official match report.
Tensions High After Controversy
The match report does, however, reference Braulio's outburst, stating: "The intervention of officers from the National Police Corps was necessary, who proceeded to identify him and had to restrain him and remove him from the scene to end the incident."
With emotions still running high, a visibly agitated Maffeo refused to participate in DAZN's half-time pitch-side interview, snapping: "I really don't feel like doing this. It's bull----. If it has to be done, let's get on with it. End of story. Ask whatever you want."
A more measured Rodríguez told the same broadcaster that there had been "a few words exchanged" when pressed directly about the tunnel incident after the final whistle.
On the Maffeo challenge that sparked such fury, Valencia manager Javier Aguirre said after the game: "It would be very easy for me to talk about the referee and try to win over the fans. I'm not going to do that, but I will share one thought I had with the referee: if he had called a foul on the first goal, it was a red card. All I said to him privately was that if he had called a foul, it was a red card. He just looked at me and said nothing. That's all I can say about referees."
Madrid's win, sealed by an Mbappé goal after the interval, keeps Los Blancos just three points behind the La Liga summit and stretches their unbeaten run to eight games across all competitions.