Things got heated at half-time during Real Madrid’s 3–0 win over Valencia on Saturday, with a multi-player “scuffle” unfolding in the Mestalla tunnel.

Madrid took a 2–0 lead into the break with Federico Valverde and Arda Güler’s goals making life diffiult for La Liga’s 19th-placed club.

However, things might have been different for Los Che. Guido Rodríguez thought he’d opened the scoring for the hosts after 20 minutes only for the goal to be ruled out for a tight offside. Not long after, Real Madrid took the lead with Valverde slamming home from range in characteristic fashion after Kylian Mbappé’s free kick had rebounded back off the wall.

The free kick had been the result of Pablo Maffeo shoving Mbappé when through on goal on the edge of the area, an action that earned him a yellow card. The only controversy at the time appeared to be that Maffeo escaped with only a booking. However, soccer is nothing if not a game of opinions and that was clearly not how Valencia sporting director Braulio Vázquez saw things.

What Happened in the Tunnel?

According to MARCA, Braulio approached assistant referee Iván Massó in the tunnel after the half-time whistle was blown, repeatedly shouting “It’s not a foul. It’s not a foul. Unbelievable!”

It is then claimed that Jude Bellingham “grabbed Braulio’s suit” in an apparent attempt to pull him away from Massó.

This proved to be the inciting incident for a “tangana” (best translated as a brawl or scuffle) involving players from both sides. “Hands were thrown,” while security guards intervened, with one supposedly catching a stray in the face from unused sub Antonio Rüdiger’s flailing limbs.

There is no suggestion that Rüdiger could face retribution for hitting what MARCA calls a “slap” and AS describes as a “punch.”

Fellow center back Ibrahima Konaté reportedly acted as the voice of reason telling everyone to “calm down.”

It is claimed that Valencia have video footage from the tunnel incident which shows the ruckus and don’t understand why it was left out of the referee’s official match report.

Tensions High After Controversy

The match report does, however, make mention of Braulio’s rant, noting: “The intervention of officers from the National Police Corps was necessary, who proceeded to identify him and had to restrain him and remove him from the scene to end the incident.”

With tensions running high, a still furious Maffeo, refused to engage with DAZN’s half-time on-pitch interview, declaring: “I really don’t feel like doing this. It’s bull----. If it has to be done, let’s get on with it. End of story. Ask whatever you want.”

A more euphemistic Rodríguez told the same outlet that there were “a few words exchanged” when he was asked directly about the tunnel incident after full time.

On the Maffeo foul which caused such ire, Valencia manager Javier Aguirre said post-match: “It would be very easy for me to talk about the referee and try to curry favor with the fans. I’m not going to do that, but I will share a thought I had with the referee: if I had called a foul on the first goal, it was a red card. All I said to him privately was that if he had called a foul, it was a red card. He just looked at me and didn’t say anything. That’s all I can say about referees.”

Madrid’s victory, completed with an Mbappé goal after the break, keeps Los Blancos just three points off the top of La Liga and extends their winning run to eight matches in all competitions.