Despite a promising opening 45 minutes to this match, Valencia are well and truly out of their game against Real Madrid now.
Los Che stopped the reigning Spanish and European champions from scoring in the first half, despite Antonio Rudiger having an effort ruled out by VAR.
However, their resistance was broken just seven minutes into the second period when Marco Asensio fired a beautiful strike past Giorgi Mamardashvili in goal. Three minutes later, it was 2-0 courtesy of Vinicius Jr’s solo effort.
Things have now gone from bad to worse for Valencia as defender Gabriel Paulista has been shown a red card for a wild kick at fellow Brazilian Vinicius. The Real Madrid players were furious with Gabriel, and a melee ensued.
𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗥𝗘𝗗 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗚𝗮𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗹 𝗣𝗮𝘂𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮 🟥
The former Arsenal defender kicks out at Vinicius Jr like a mad man and is sent off!#RealMadridValencia #ITVFootball pic.twitter.com/XwZ1yYeo0V
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) February 2, 2023
To make matters worse, Gabriel will likely now miss Los Che’s next three matches. Having been on the bench for Valencia’s last two matches, the defender is now set for a spell on the sidelines.
