Jose Mourinho is facing a barrage of criticism for his comments in the wake of Tuesday's Champions League racism row.
Mourinho's Benfica were beaten by Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League play-off round tie but the only goal of the game was marred by an allegation of racism.
Vinicius Jr scored early in the second half to give Real Madrid an advantage going in to the second leg but the game was paused after the Brazilian reported to the referee that Benfica's Argentinian winger Gianluca Prestianni had made a racially abusive comment.
'I told him the biggest person in the history of this club was black'
Prestianni has denied making a racist comment. Benfica's response was to defend their player in the aftermath of a 10-minute delay and Mourinho has attracted widespread criticism for his account of a conversation he had at the side of the pitch with the 25-year-old.
While he denied racist intent on the part of his player and club, Mourinho also redirected some of the blame towards Vinicius Jr in remarks he made after the match.
"It should be the crazy moment of the game, an amazing goal," said former Real Madrid boss Mourinho, addressing a suggestion that Vini Jr had incited a reaction by the nature of his celebration.
"It should be the crazy moment of the game, an amazing goal. Unfortunately [he was] not just happy to score that astonishing goal. When you score a goal like that, you celebrate in a respectful way.
"I told [Vinicius], when you score a goal like that you just celebrate and walk back. When he was arguing about racism, I told him the biggest person in the history of this club was black."
Eusebio is regarded as Benfica's greatest-ever player. He played for the Lisbon giants between 1961 and 1975, winning the Portuguese championship no fewer than 11 times.
'The Black Pearl', who was born in Mozambique, was the 1965 Ballon d'Or winner and was the top scorer at the 1966 World Cup in England.
Regardless of what was or wasn't said between players – even Prestianni's denial paints him in a bad light – Mourinho's reaction was anything but unequivocal.
He wouldn't have had to throw his player under the bus to issue a far more robust response and Vinicius Jr's mode of celebration is entirely immaterial. Indeed, the Real Madrid player has been on the end of racist abuse from fans on many occasions.
In 2022, Spanish football agent Pedro Bravo ignited a furore for his comments about Vini Jr's celebration, later apologising for telling the player to "Stop acting the monkey" on a late-night television chat show.
