The victory won by Real Madrid against Benfica (0-1) on Tuesday in the first leg of the Champions League play-offs quickly became anecdotal. The fault lies in the heated controversy sparked by Vinicius after his goal scored shortly after returning from the locker room.
As Benfica prepared to make the commitment, the Brazilian rushed to the referee, Mr. Letexier, to denounce racist remarks that Gianluca Prestianni would have made towards him. According to the native of Rio, the Argentinian would have in fact called him a monkey on several occasions. The match was then interrupted for around ten minutes, with the French referee activating the protocol put in place by UEFA in the event of a racist incident.
Vinicius received numerous signs of support after the meeting, first and foremost from his teammates, including Kylian MbappĂ©. “ Player No. 25 told Vinicius “you’re a monkey” five times. This kid should never be allowed to play in the Champions League again! Our job is to provide as much information as possible so that everyone goes in the same direction”confided the French world champion, adding: “We must set an example to all the children who look up to us. We cannot accept that a player playing in the most prestigious European competition behaves like this, but we will see. Let’s leave it to UEFA, which is still trying to react. They have a serious case there, and I hope they will take action. »
“I am a madridista”
“I don’t like Real Madrid, but I’m a madridista tonight, for his part confided Thierry Henry on the set of CBS Sports. I don’t care what jersey Vinicius wears. I don’t want to see that. And I’ve heard some people say that this happens to him all the time. Who cares! Why are you trying to change the subject or situation? Let’s get back to the subject. What was said? Vinicius was said to be an ape. What are we talking about again? What should we do? And on top of that, he can’t celebrate? Where are we, what are we talking about? »
“Now Kylian mentions the word “mono”, which can be translated as monkey. I’ve been called a monkey before, it’s not nice at all, he continued. I’ve said it before, I can understand. But now we know what happened. If you ask me my opinion, as a black person, yes, I find it horrible but we already know that. There are a lot of impostors in this sport. Let’s see what they will do. »
“We all have immense respect for Benfica, but this person must respond to what Kylian said, he added again. You can’t just say ‘I didn’t say that’. Why did you cover your mouth? Now we can talk about something. I don’t like to speculate. I believe Kylian. He left me an extra message, I can’t wait to listen to it even though I don’t usually talk about what I’m doing on my phone and all that. »
