Vinicius Junior tweet fuels fires of controversy following Almeria goal

Vinicius Junior has never been afraid of taking on the narrative, and after hours of debate, cutting statements and anger, the Brazilian has waded into the VAR controversy surrounding Real Madrid’s comeback against Almeria on Sunday.

The Andalusian side were furious with the VAR, which overturned three decisions in the favour of one side for the first time in La Liga history. Real Madrid were awarded a goal, a penalty and disallowed a goal as a result of the interventions. Audio of the conversations between the referees shows that the on-field referee was not shown all of the relevant footage though.

Vinicius Junior was one of the beneficiaries, as his goal, initially ruled out for handball, was given.

Golazo!!! Así lo hacía siempre en la playa de Copacabana 😮‍💨 https://t.co/RRojbgTgIs

— Vini Jr. (@vinijr) January 22, 2024

Experts agreed that this was not the correct decision, or at the very least that it was not clear enough to overturn. However Vinicius has laughed at the controversy, calling it a great goal on Twitter – ‘Golazo!!! That’s how I always used to do it on Copacabana beach’.

‘Golazo!!! That’s how I always used to do it on Copacabana beach’#vinijr #RealMadrid https://t.co/bpheYt5BNu

— Football España (@footballespana_) January 22, 2024

Almeria had responded to the audio of the VAR on their own social media, asking why the referee was not shown all of the angles of Vinicius’ contact with the ball.

🤔 ¿Por qué no se le muestran al árbitro el resto de ángulos que hemos podido ver en TV? https://t.co/tGc8fTusvu

— UD Almería (@U_D_Almeria) January 21, 2024

The Brazilian could yet find himself in hot water if Almeria decide to submit a complaint to the Competition Committee, after he appeared to elbow defender Alejandro Pozo in the face, which could earn him a ban.