Vinícius Júnior and his teammates appeared ready to walk off and the game was delayed for 10 minutes as the Brazilian was allegedly subject to racist abuse after scoring the goal that gives Real Madrid a 1-0 first-leg lead in their Champions League playoff against Benfica.
The forward had celebrated a sensational strike by dancing in the corner of the Estádio da Luz and in the confrontations that followed, Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni said something to him while covering his mouth. Vinícius immediately ran to the referee, François Letexier, who stopped the match and crossed his arms to signal that he was activating the anti-racism protocol.
In TV footage, it seemed that the word that Vinícius reported back to the referee was “mono” (monkey) and when that was put to Madrid’s coach, Álvaro Arbeloa, afterwards, he said: “You have to ask the Benfica player what he said … I have no reason not to believe what Vinícius says.” Vinícius later posted that racists are “cowards who have to cover their mouths”, while Kylian Mbappé later said that Prestianni had used the word five times. Prestianni has denied making a racist remark.
“I spoke to Vinícius and he said one thing and Prestianni said another,” José Mourinho said, although the Benfica manager also questioned why Vinícius celebrated as he had.
“What happened tonight is a disgrace,” Trent Alexander-Arnold said. The Real Madrid captain, Federico Valverde, said: “If you cover your mouth to say something it’s because it’s not right. It’s lamentable. The insult is very serious and it has happened lots of times to Vinícius.”
Vinícius had been shown a yellow card for the celebrations and all over the pitch there were more confrontations, some heated, others dejected. At one point Mbappé appeared to accuse Prestianni of being a “fucking racist”. “I am proud of my teammates for protecting Vinícius and Vinícius for carrying on,” Valverde said. Mourinho said afterwards that there was a moment in which the Brazilian did not want to continue. “There was a great game for 50 minutes and then it ended,” the Benfica coach said.
It had been competitive until then, and very different to the last time they met just 20 days ago. Mourinho had said that he began his analysis by watching that game back but soon turned off and threw his early prep in the bin. This Madrid is not that Madrid, he said, and that was quickly clear. Arbeloa has settled on a structure that gives a more muscular presence in the middle, offering a solidity that simply wasn’t there three weeks ago and ultimately this was a controlled, impressive away performance from Madrid, until the moment which sadly eclipsed everything.
Benfica had started brightly again, the noise rising as Rafa Silva was almost slipped in after just three minutes and there was willingness to run through the middle from deep, particularly from Leandro Barreiro, while Thibaut Courtois made a superb stop from Fredrik Aursnes. But this time they would not find it so easy to tear into Madrid. Real, for their part, increased the tempo and might have led in a frantic spell before half-time.
Mbappé, Álvaro Carreras and a superb touch from Vinícius set up Mbappé for the first chance on 42 minutes, only for the Frenchman to fire over. On 43, after Eduardo Camavinga had been allowed to advance, Mbappé turned and drew a save from Anatoliy Trubin. On 44, Vinícius got into the area to find Mbappé, whose shot was blocked. And then on 45, Trubin made a fantastic save from Arda Guler. At that point, all Benfica wanted was for the whistle to blow, although they were annoyed when it finally did – just as they had a chance for a quick throw that might have released them.
Those laments did not last long, but far worse ones replaced them. They had only been back out four minutes when Vinícius was released on the left, cut inside across the corner of the area and struck a fabulous shot into the far top corner. Although they did eventually continue, while Benfica came back at Madrid, Courtois saving from Andreas Schjelderup, Prestianni getting booked for diving in search of a penalty, Mourinho getting sent off for protesting, and a late Sidny Lopes Cabral free-kick looping on to the top of the net, something had been lost, a sadness left in its place. The game had long since ended Mourinho said, and in the way that no one wanted.
