LISBON — Real Madrid’s first leg of the Champions League playoff against Benfica was interrupted for 10 minutes on Tuesday after Vinícius Júnior accused an opponent of racial abuse.
The forward scored to give Madrid the lead in the 50th minute but later spoke to referee Francois Letexier, who made a gesture indicating that a racism allegation had been reported.
The match at Estádio da Luz was paused as Vinícius, visibly upset, consulted with Madrid coach Álvaro Arbeloa, Benfica’s José Mourinho, and his teammates.
Following his goal, Vinícius received a yellow card after celebrating with a dance by the corner flag and was confronted by several Benfica players.
Benfica’s Argentine player Gianluca Prestianni was seen complaining to Vinícius while covering his mouth with his jersey, prompting Vinícius to point at him and approach the referee.
“According to nearby teammates, they heard something very offensive,” said Real Madrid midfielder Federico Valverde. “It’s unfortunate that such occurrences aren’t captured on camera. Covering your mouth to say something is telling. We stand by Vinícius.”
“The insult was very serious. It’s a recurring issue. As teammates, we must support him.”
Though the referee indicated he did not hear anything and suggested that Prestianni’s mouth covering was the reason for the claim, he later spoke with Prestianni before allowing the match to continue.
Madrid midfielder Aurélien Tchouaméni expressed his anger after the match, stating: “This shouldn’t happen. Vini mentioned that the player called him a monkey, while the player denied it. Vini told us to keep playing. I’m at a loss for words. We’ll discuss this further, but we cannot tolerate such behavior.”
“I told the team that if there’s an issue, we’re leaving as a unit. But we discussed it and decided we needed to focus on winning.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.