Spanish soccer league

Valencia v Real Madrid – LIVE from 9pm

Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior can't believe it!(Bild: Associated Press)

Real Madrid are usually accused of being the darlings of the referees in Spanish soccer - but on Saturday evening the "royals" were the victims of a questionable decision! Jesús Gil Manzano whistled the match in Valencia at 2:2 - fractions of a second before Jude Bellingham headed in the middle to make it 3:2 for Real ...

A decision that was not wrong in terms of the rules, but an unusual one, after which tempers flared and would not cool for a long time. Bellingham himself was shown the red card after storming up to the referee in disgust and telling him one or two "niceties". Real coach Carlo Ancelotti had to rush onto the pitch to calm his players down.

Of course, not everything had gone perfectly for Real Madrid in the 90 plus 7 minutes beforehand, as they were 2-0 down after 30 minutes following a double strike from Hugo Duro (27) and Roman Yaremchuk (30).

However, Vinicius Junior scored the equalizer in first-half stoppage time (45.+5) and headed home the equalizer in the 76th minute to save the Madrilenians from their second league defeat of the season.

Real are now seven points ahead of Girona and nine ahead of FC Barcelona. Girona visit Real Mallorca on Sunday, while Barcelona travel to fifth-placed Athletic Bilbao.