5⃣ stories of the day: Barça in controversy, Xabi-Vini, Bordalás hits out

Monday, December 22 comes packed with news, and here at 'OneFootball' we bring you the five stories you can't miss.

The Bernabéu took a stand: Xabi yes; Vinicius no

Real Madrid beat Sevilla 2-0 on Saturday in a match where they once again failed to impress. This sparked boos from a Santiago Bernabéu crowd tired of seeing their team far from its best level.

📸 Denis Doyle - 2025 Getty Images

The final straw was when the fans saw off Vinicius Junior from the match. The Madrid supporters booed the Brazilian, which later led him to remove his profile picture on 'Instagram' wearing the Real Madrid shirt and to caption his match image with just three dots.

Additionally, 'MARCA' conducted a poll in which Madrid fans massively sided with Xabi Alonso and blamed the players for things not going well.

Barcelona finishes off Villarreal amid controversy...

📸 JOSE JORDAN - AFP or licensors

Barça won at La Cerámica 2-0 with goals from Raphinha and Lamine Yamal. And in the midst of it all, the controversy complained about by Marcelino García Toral: "The sending-off may be fair, but yesterday I saw more dangerous tackles than these that were only given a yellow. We must avoid that kind of excessively intense action. Some referees call it one way, others another."

Even so, great performances from Joan García, Eric García, and also Lamine, who led Flick's side to victory and to the break as winter champions.

Atlético de Madrid, Elche, and Betis smile

📸 MANAURE QUINTERO - AFP or licensors

The rojiblancos opened Sunday’s matchday with a 3-0 win in Girona, with Koke, Gallagher, and Griezmann shining. Simeone’s men temporarily move ahead of Villarreal, who have two games in hand, and remain nine points off the top.

Elche put on a show against Rayo Vallecano and capped off a spectacular 2025 for Éder Sarabia’s side, who go into the break in 9th place and close to the European spots.

Betis ended the day with a thrashing of Getafe. Bordalás’s side were unrecognizable and Pellegrini’s men steamrolled to a 4-0 win with Aitor Ruibal, Antony, Fornals, and Cucho Hernández shining. They are now sixth and in European spots.

The 'rant' from Bordalás, coach, and David Soria, Getafe captain

📸 Juan Manuel Serrano Arce - 2025 Getty Images

Getafe lost 4-0 in Seville against Betis and the anger within the Madrid side is significant. They have only scored one goal since the end of October in La Liga and the defeats have hit a team that started very well.

To try to improve the situation, José Bordalás urgently called for reinforcements: "Betis has an incredible squad, one of the best in recent seasons, and it’s clear that all the clubs have been improving and reinforcing themselves, and we’ve done the opposite. It’s very complicated like this. We have to see reality and make decisions, otherwise we have a big problem."

On the other hand, David Soria, after apologizing to the fans, asked for the same: "I think it’s an important wake-up call for everyone: players, the club… everyone. We need to make an effort in the market, raise our level, which has dropped in recent games. You can lose, but while competing—what happened today cannot happen again. I hope everyone takes note, from the top down to the last person.” 

Brahim Díaz gives the 'starting gun' to the Africa Cup

📸 PAUL ELLIS - AFP or licensors

The Africa Cup of Nations kicked off with the debut of the favorite and host: Morocco. The 'Atlas Lions' defeated a combative Comoros side thanks to a goal from Brahim Díaz, who made it 1-0, and a beautiful bicycle kick from El Kaabi to make it 2-0.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.

📸 JOSE JORDAN - AFP or licensors