Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr will be sidelined for the highly anticipated El Clasico against Barcelona due to a four-game ban stemming from his recent red card. The Brazil international was dismissed for pulling Nathan Saliba's hair during Real Madrid's narrow 1-0 victory over Villarreal last Saturday.

As a result of his suspension, Vinicius Jr will miss several critical matches:

• Sevilla on 18 October
• Barcelona on 25 October
• Racing Santander on 1 November
• Valencia on 7 November

Vinicius Jr came on as a substitute in the 52nd minute against Villarreal and believed he had scored what would have been his side's second goal. However, after a review of the play, the referee disallowed the goal due to the hair-pulling incident, leading to Vinicius’s red card.

The Spanish football federation's disciplinary committee imposed a two-match suspension for “behaving violently ... (while) not being in a position to challenge for the ball” and an additional two matches for “protests” directed at the officials.

In the aftermath, Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho chose not to address the media in the post-match news conference. Vinicius Jr later expressed remorse on social media, apologizing to both his team and the Real Madrid fans for his actions.