Real Madrid defender Nacho's message after filthy foul on Portu

Better late than never. Although Nacho Fernández did not have a immediate apologetic reaction to his harsh tackle on Portu in the final moments of the Girona-Real Madrid game - he got into a confrontation with Yan Couto and started a brawl - nor did he appear in the mixed zone to offer the relevant explanations, the captain of the Merengues made a publication on social networks to publicly apologise to the Murcia-born attacker for an action that he defined as "involuntary" and "with no intention of doing harm".

"I want to apologise to Portu for an unintentional action in the match. Today and in my entire career I never had the intention of hurting anyone. Hopefully you can recover well and quickly," Nacho wrote on his Instagram profile hours after a tackle that injured the Girona player - he left the pitch in tears and on a stretcher and had to be taken to hospital - when the match was virtually over and Real Madrid's victory was in no danger, aggravating factors that further outraged the fans who packed Montilivi to the rafters.

In the match report, referee Pulido Santana considered that the action "with the use of excessive force" by Nacho had occurred "in the dispute for the ball". Although he also specified that Portu "could not continue playing due to injury", the description of the referee (who needed the help of the VAR to send off the Madrid captain) did not include the provocative gestures of the defender as he left the pitch. We will see if the sanction determined by the Competition Committee is commensurate with the seriousness of the offence.