Overview
- The incident occurred in the second half of El Clásico when João Cancelo's boot made studs-on contact with Yan Diomande's calf, causing visible pain and forcing Diomande off briefly for treatment.
- Referee Juan Martínez Munuera did not book Cancelo and the Video Assistant Referee did not recommend a review, so no on-field sanction was shown.
- Two leading referee analysts, Iturralde González and the site Archivo VAR, said the challenge did not meet the threshold for a straight red and should have drawn at least a yellow card.
- Former coach José Mourinho publicly criticized the lack of VAR intervention and called for retrospective action, while media reports show differing accounts of the exact minute the challenge occurred.
- The episode adds to a string of disputed October decisions that have increased pressure on LaLiga and the Royal Spanish Football Federation to clarify when VAR should intervene and how original match footage is handled.