Overview
- Real Madrid beat Alavés 2–1 at Mendizorroza, but a late challenge on Vinícius Júnior was not given as a penalty and VAR’s Pablo González Fuertes did not send referee Víctor García Verdura to the monitor.
- Xabi Alonso called the incident a clear penalty and expressed surprise there was no review, while Vinícius was filmed saying, “they didn’t call it because it was me.”
- Real Madrid TV aired an unusually fierce broadcast accusing the officials of deliberate bias, linking the decision to the Negreira affair and urging that González Fuertes be removed from appointments.
- Florentino Pérez told media the Negreira case is the most serious issue in football, cited more than €8m in payments for referee reports and criticized Spanish institutions for asking the matter be forgotten.
- Reporting says the win offers only temporary relief for Alonso, with internal options such as Álvaro Arbeloa or Santiago Solari under consideration and upcoming matches viewed as decisive; the club also withheld players from post-match interviews.