Real Madrid are hopeful Vinicius Jr will avoid suspension after the club appealed his straight red card during their 2-1 comeback win over Valencia last week, manager Carlo Ancelotti said on Sunday.
The Italian coach confirmed Vinicius is travelling to Cartagena for Monday’s Copa del Rey match against Deportiva Minera.
The Brazilian striker was sent off for slapping Valencia goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski during Friday’s LaLiga match and Ancelotti is confident that the 24-year-old will escape even the minimum two-game suspension for his red card.
“It wasn’t a red, it was a yellow, and that’s why we hope he will not face any suspension,” the 65-year-old manager told reporters.
Ancelotti added that Vinicius, who is Black, is under immense mental stress due to previous incidents of racist abuse directed at him in Spain.
“It’s difficult being in his shoes. It’s not easy to endure everything he goes through, including the insults. It’s not simple, but he’s trying to improve. He’s upset about it and has apologised, we need to look ahead,” he added.
“We hope he won’t face a suspension. The only two, who are not travelling, are (goalkeeper) Thibaut Courtois and (defender) Antonio Rudiger. The rest are all travelling.”
Ancelotti added that he had no issue with the new Copa del Rey regulations that mandate LaLiga clubs start with at least seven players from their first-team squad.
“We have to respect it, and I have no problem with this rule. I want to give minutes to those who have played less,” he added.
Real Madrid have missed three of their last four penalties, including two from Kylian Mbappe and Ancelotti said his side are working to improve their performance from the spot.
“It’s a technical aspect that’s very difficult to manage. There are good penalty takers, but what changes is the atmosphere in the stadiums,” the Italian added.
“I want to clarify the matter for us as well (on penalty takers). I will clarify it before the match… it could be Vinicius, Mbappe, Jude (Bellingham), Arda Guler. We’ll see how I feel.”
