Vinícius Júnior Alleges Racist Abuse as Champions League Clash Paused in Lisbon

A Champions League night at the Stadium of Light was overshadowed by allegations of racist abuse after Real Madrid forward Vinícius Júnior accused a Benfica opponent of calling him “monkey” during Tuesday’s heated encounter.

The incident unfolded in the 52nd minute shortly after Vinícius curled a stunning shot into the top corner to give Madrid a 1-0 lead. As the Brazilian celebrated near the corner flag with a dance, angry Benfica supporters threw bottles and objects toward the Madrid players. Amid the chaos, Benfica’s 20-year-old midfielder Gianluca Prestianni approached Vinícius and appeared to speak to him while covering his mouth with his jersey.

Moments later, Vinícius pointed directly at Prestianni and ran toward French referee François Letexier. Television cameras captured the forward telling the official that Prestianni had used a racist slur. Letexier immediately halted play, crossing his arms above his head to activate the anti-racism protocol. The match was stopped for nearly 10 minutes.

After the game, Vinícius addressed the incident on Instagram, posting a photo of his celebration. “Racists are, above all, cowards. They need to cover their mouths with their shirts to show how they are weak. . . . Nothing that happened today is new to me in my life and in my family’s life. I was shown a yellow card for celebrating a goal. I still don’t know why,” he wrote.

Real Madrid defender Trent Alexander-Arnold did not hold back in his condemnation. “What’s happened tonight is a disgrace to football,” he said. “There’s no place for it in football or society. It’s disgusting.”

Teammates Kylian Mbappé and Aurélien Tchouaméni revealed the squad briefly considered walking off the pitch. “We can’t accept that a player who plays in Europe’s top competition behaves like that,” Mbappé said. “He shouldn’t keep playing in the competition. Let’s see what happens now.”

Benfica players denied any racist insult occurred. Midfielder Leandro Barreiro said Prestianni described the exchange as “a normal provocation between players during a match” and insisted “it was nothing racist.”

Benfica manager Jose Mourinho, speaking to Amazon Prime, criticized Vinícius’ celebration. “Unfortunately, he was not just happy to score that astonishing goal. When you score a goal like that, you celebrate in a respectful way,” Mourinho said, adding, “There is something wrong because it happens in every stadium. The stadium where Vinicius played, something happened. Always.”

The match resumed in the 60th minute, but tensions remained high. Vinícius was jeered throughout and struck by a bottle late on. Mourinho was later sent off in the 86th minute for protesting to the referee.

Despite the turmoil, Madrid held on for the win — but the result was eclipsed by a night of controversy and renewed debate over racism in football.