Valencia hit with two bans after Real Madrid clash: two games for Braulio Vázquez, one for Gayà

The locker room tunnel at Mestalla turned into the setting for much of the controversy following the Valencia-Real Madrid match, and now comes the official response. The RFEF's Competition Committee has handed down sanctions to the Mestalla club: two games for sporting director Braulio Vázquez, and one game for Jose Luis Gayà following his red card on the field.

It all started at halftime. According to referee Hernández Maeso's match report, Braulio Vázquez was in the tunnel area and got into it there with the assistant referee, whom he confronted "repeatedly and in an agitated tone." The referee himself detailed the exact words he heard in his report:

No foul, no foul! Come on, that's ridiculous!Braulio Vázquez (as recorded in the referee's match report)

The report doesn't stop there: the referee stated that the sporting director directed those same words at him as well, with "an agitated demeanor," which forced national police officers to step in. According to the official account, the officers "proceeded to identify him and had to restrain him and remove him from the area to put an end to the incident."

For repeated protests, Braulio Vázquez will miss the team's next two matches, against Rayo Vallecano and Osasuna. The sanction, which also carries a fine, bars him from stepping onto the field, sitting on the bench or accessing the locker room area during those games.

Valencia's anger hasn't cooled off

The sanction hasn't gone down well at Mestalla, and not so much because of what the report says but because of what, in the club's view, was left out of it. The Valencia organization says it has video of what happened in the tunnel and remains puzzled that Hernández Maeso didn't include other incidents that, according to Valencia, also took place involving Real Madrid players, specifically Jude Bellingham and Antonio Rüdiger.

Alongside this whole off field episode, the team will also have to deal with losing Gayà. The fullback was sent off with a direct red card in the 79th minute following a challenge on Kylian Mbappé, and he'll now have to serve his one game suspension against none other than Rayo Vallecano, the same match where his sporting director's absence begins as well.