Íñigo Pérez questioned after Vinicius Junior’s dismissal

The day after José Mourinho’s team claimed a narrow victory, Íñigo Pérez, coach of the team nicknamed “groguet”, was asked about the incidents between the two benches. Tensions flared after Vinicius Junior was sent off for pulling Saliba’s hair and then protesting vehemently to the referee.

The former Rayo Vallecano coach said a tense atmosphere was to be expected in such a match: “The friction and tension in a game like this, where two teams want to impose themselves without holding anything back, with everything out in the open, is normal. The score is close and time is pressing: you defend your result at home, we want to win… What happened does not surprise me; it is part of the game and should be treated as such.”

The Real Madrid-Villarreal match was also surrounded by controversy. The account of the match accused Real Madrid of continuing to put pressure on referees through its official media when results are not going well. The frequent videos released by Real Madrid TV were cited as part of that debate.

Against that backdrop, the interviewee’s further reference to “people whose job is to manage this kind of tension” underlined how the incidents also shaped discussion around the match.