During the closing stages of El Clasico, Real Madrid and Barcelona players confronted each other due to emotional outbursts, and the police had to intervene to separate the two sides.
Reports claim that it all started when Pedri received his second yellow card and was sent off for a foul on Aurelien Tchouameni in added time, when Barcelona was desperately seeking to equalize the score.
That leveller did not come, with goals from Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham either side of a Fermin Lopez strike sealing a 2-1 victory for Madrid, who are now five points clear of their bitter rivals in La Liga. It was a classic Clasico: full of excitement, controversy and drama. On the pitch and off it.
Pedri’s red card lit the touchpaper, and after the final whistle, confrontations continued. Madrid substitute Andriy Lunin was sent off for his role in the altercations, with six other players shown yellow cards.
What happened?
When Pedri was sent off in the 99th minute for a second yellow card after a foul on Tchouameni, Madrid players (including Tchouameni) commiserated with the Barca midfielder as he got to his feet.
Cameras then cut to the sidelines, where Vinicius Junior, who had been replaced, and Madrid reserve goalkeeper Lunin were squaring up to Barcelona players, including Ferran Torres and Alejandro Balde.
Federico Valverde, Eder Militao, Bellingham, Antonio Rudiger and David Alaba (the last two are injured and not part of the matchday squad) were among those to run towards the Barca bench, with Barca’s Raphinha (also injured) and Eric Garcia getting involved, too, along with various staff members from both sides.
As police officers stepped in to calm things down, at one point, Militao held his hands up as he was surrounded.
Meanwhile, Madrid coach Xabi Alonso raced across to pull Vinicius Jr back, with Lunin at this point the closest Madrid player to the Barca group.
Lunin was eventually sent off by referee Cesar Soto Grado. In his match report, Soto Grado said he was shown the red card for “leaving his team bench towards the rival team’s bench in an aggressive manner, having to be restrained by his own team-mates”.
Alonso also pushed Militao back out towards the pitch — unlike some of the others involved, he was still active in the game — as police made a line between the two benches.
Thibaut Courtois then restarted the game, and Soto Grado blew the final whistle.
Near the halfway line, Madrid captain Dani Carvajal walked towards Lamine Yamal, making a gesture with his hands that seemed to signify he thought Yamal had been talking too much. Marcus Rashford then came over and shook hands with Carvajal, who turned away. Yamal tried to run towards Carvajal, his Spain team-mate, but Madrid’s Eduardo Camavinga came across to hold him back.
Courtois then ran over, and he and Yamal had to be separated, with Garcia, Frenkie de Jong and Marc Casado among those to come between them. Amid a collection of players and staff from both sides, Brahim Diaz and Torres were pushing each other. Militao was remonstrating with Garcia, while Alonso and Tchouameni were pulling Militao away.
Alonso was among those acting as a peacemaker, pointing to his head in a ‘keep calm’ gesture. Barca’s stand-in coach for the day, Marcus Sorg — with Hansi Flick serving a suspension up in the stands — was also looking to calm everyone down, while Barcelona’s veteran match delegate Carles Naval prominent too.
As Yamal walked closer to the sidelines, Vinicius Jr then approached to give the same ‘talking too much’ sign towards him, and they exchanged words.
Madrid goalkeeping coach Luis Llopis tried to drag Vinicius Jr away to the tunnel, but in an apparent response to something said to him, the Brazilian started to rush towards Yamal, and in the end, four different Madrid staff members held him back. Raphinha ran towards his international team-mate, but Madrid’s Valverde intervened to block him.
As things finally calmed down, Barca went to commiserate with their few away supporters in one corner of the Bernabeu, while the victorious Madrid players linked arms and bounced up and down.
By that point, Soto Grado had shown Lunin the red card, with the yellow card being shown to Rodrygo, Vinicius Jr, and Militao for Madrid, and Lopez, Balde, and Torres for Barcelona.
Shortly after the match, sources at La Liga and the Spanish FA told that no further action, beyond that already taken by the referee, is expected to follow in terms of potential further punishment.