A seven-game ban rocks Rayo Vallecano before Strasbourg clash in UEFA Conference League - Here’s what happened

Rayo Vallecano fans are furious — and they have good reason to be. The league campaign is officially over for Isi Palazón after a disciplinary ruling handed down Wednesday hit the midfielder with a seven‑game suspension stemming from last weekend’s clash with Real Sociedad.

Here’s how the punishment breaks down:

Referee Guzmán Mansilla, explained in his report that he issued Isi a red card in the 90th minute because the player “entered the field to protest one of my decisions.” He added that once expelled, Isi told him, “You’re a scumbag (sinvergüenza),” while pointing at him.

Isi insists he never said anything of the kind. Club president Raúl Martín Presa backed him immediately after the match, saying the player swore repeatedly that he never insulted the referee. Presa also questioned whether the official could have heard anything clearly amid the stadium noise. Rayo appealed — and lost.

A season‑ending blow

With five games left — against Getafe, Girona, Valencia, Villarreal, and Alavés — Isi is done for the year and will also miss the start of next season. It’s a brutal setback for a team still fighting to avoid relegation.

The frustration only deepened after Spain’s refereeing committee (CTA) admitted on its review show Tiempo de Revisión that VAR made two major mistakes in the match:

According to the CTA’s own corrections this season, Rayo has suffered six VAR errors in 33 games — the most in LaLiga, double the number affecting Espanyol.

Rayo fire back: “We’ll use every legal option”

Hours after the suspension became official, Rayo released a blistering statement saying it “cannot understand” the disciplinary committee’s decisions, arguing that some rulings “ignore objective reality clearly visible in the footage.”

The club says the committee failed to properly analyze the evidence regarding cards shown to Pathé Ciss and Andrei Rațiu.

But the harshest criticism focused on Isi’s seven‑game ban. Rayo called it “disproportionate” and “closer to punishing a victim” given the acknowledged officiating mistakes.

The club argues that two separate sanctions were unfairly applied to a single action and that mitigating factors — including Isi’s clean record and remorse — were ignored.

It is the first time that Isi has been sent off in LaLiga - he has been ordered off four times in the 12 years of his career as a professional.

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