Real Madrid edged a crucial win over Villarreal by a single goal on Saturday evening, in the eighth round of the Spanish league at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Vinicius Junior saw red in the 72nd minute, just 20 minutes after coming on as a substitute in the 52nd.
The "Archivo VAR" account on X, which specialises in controversial refereeing incidents, called the direct red card against Vinicius during the Villarreal match deserved.
It continued: "A decisive intervention from video technology. Saliba made contact with Vinicius, and the Brazilian player pulled the hair of the Villarreal player, during the attack that preceded the scoring of the goal."
Archivo VAR stressed: "It is a direct red card. This incident is classified as unsporting behaviour according to the regulations."
Referee Diaz de Mera Escuderos fared no better in the account's eyes, handed a shocking 1.5 out of 10 for his performance.
"The referee appeared very hesitant during the opening minutes, and relied on a very poor refereeing standard, as he did not show yellow cards until a long time into the match had passed," the site explained.
It went on: "The on-field referee ignited the atmosphere of the match himself without any need, after being lenient with all the protests of Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho, and took several minutes before cautioning him. He seemed like a third-division referee officiating a first-division match."
On top of that, he had to turn to the video assistant referee to review Vinicius's goal, scrubbed off for unsporting behaviour in the build-up. Stoppage time brought more of the same: pure chaos and no sign of refereeing authority.