Real Madrid forward, Vinicius Junior, was called a Monkey by Benfica’s Argentina player, Gianluca Prestianni, during their UEFA Champions League playoff on Tuesday, according to Spanish newspaper, AS.
Real Madrid’s 1-0 victory against Benfica was delayed for nine minutes at the start of the second half because Vinicius had ran to the referee Francois Letexier to report an alleged racist incident after a disagreement with Prestianni.
Vinicius made the first leg of the Champions League knockout play-off exciting with a great personal effort to score the first goal just five minutes after the second half started at Lisbon’s Estadio da Luz.
The Brazilian celebrated his amazing goal by dancing right in front of Benfica’s home supporters near the corner flag, and this quickly upset Jose Mourinho’s players.
Referee Francois Letexier gave a yellow card to Vinicius because of the role he played in irritating Benfica’s fans.
Many of those fans threw missiles at the 25-year-old forward in response. There was a delay of over nine minutes because both teams fought on the field.
At first, it looked like nothing serious was happening, but soon things turned bad as Vinicius complained to the officials about something that Benfica’s winger, Prestianni, had supposedly said during the chaos.
After talking briefly with the Madrid player, the referee, Letexier, raised his arms to form a cross. This gesture is used to show that a player has been subjected to racist abuse during a UEFA match.
Replays of the incident showed Prestianni lifting his shirt up to cover his mouth and then seeming to say something to Vinicius Junior.
It is not clear exactly what, if anything, Prestianni said, but a report from the Spanish newspaper AS says that Vinicius Junior accused the Argentina player of calling him a ‘monkey’.
There were cheers from the fans as Vinicius Junior left the field and sat on Madrid’s bench to show his disagreement, and later came back onto the pitch.
A member of Benfica’s coaching team received a straight red card during the clash, and Mourinho was also sent off near the end of the match.
This means he will miss the second leg at the Bernabeu due to suspension.