By Miguel Rapetti
The match between Valencia and Real Madrid, which ended in a 2-2 draw, already had “seasoning” in the previous due to the return of Vinícius Jr. to the Mestalla stadium where the last time he was present he suffered racist attacks, but the end of the commitment brought with it one of the biggest controversies of 2024 with the annulment of a goal against the Merengues because the main player of the match, Gil Manzano, sentenced the end of the game seconds before.
A corner in the 98th minute taken by Luka Modric seemed like it would be the last play of the match against Real Madrid’s siege to achieve victory, but after the rejection by the Valencia defense the ball fell to the feet of Brahim Díaz who ran to the band for a new center in search of the goal.
Upon receiving, Díaz crossed with his weak leg and found the head of Jude Bellingham who turned his neck and sent the ball into the back of the net to make it 2-3.
However, while the ball was in the air after Díaz’s center, Manzano took his whistle and signaled the end of the match, something that immediately angered the players who went after the referee to complain about his actions.
This resulted in Bellingham being the first to face Manzano and therefore ended up seeing the red card seconds after the end.
Similarly, Vinícius Jr., who had already been the protagonist by scoring the two goals for Real Madrid, also went to claim Manzano but was taken by Aurelien Tchouameni to avoid a major sanction.
To the disappointment of Real Madrid, with the draw against Valencia they reached 66 points in first place in the Spanish LaLiga and now both Girona and FC Barcelona could reduce their advantage in the fight for leadership.
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