Vinicius Junior with Alvaro Arbeloa and Jose Mourinho (Photos by Angel Martinez/Getty Images)
Real Madrid star Vinicius Junior has released a statement on Instagram after alleging that he was the victim of racist abuse from Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni last night.
Vinicius scored a superb winning goal for Real as they won 1-0 away to Benfica, but the game was marred by an alleged incident that led to the Brazil international leaving the field in protest.
Benfica manager Jose Mourinho was also sent off in a dramatic game in this Champions League play-off tie, with the Portuguese tactician also heavily criticised for his response to the whole incident.
This is not the kind of thing we want to see in football, and Mourinho rather shockingly suggested that Vinicius may have been partly to blame.
What happened with Vinicius Junior and Gianluca Prestianni?
Vinicius approached referee Francois Letexier to report racist abuse from Prestianni, with his teammate Kylian Mbappe later quoted by Football Espana as saying that the Benfica player had called him a “monkey” five times.
Real Madrid’s tie with Benfica was halted for 10 minutes after Vinicius Júnior reported alleged racist abuse pic.twitter.com/yHJfwved0e
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) February 17, 2026
Vinicius and his teammates left the pitch for ten minutes, though play later restarted and the match was eventually completed.
Posting on Instagram after the game, as quoted by BBC Sport, Vinicius said: “Racists are, above all, cowards. They need to put their shirts in their mouths to show how weak they are,” said Vinicius.
“But they have the protection of others who, theoretically, have an obligation to punish them. Nothing that happened today is new in my life or in my team’s life.
“I received a yellow card for celebrating a goal. I still don’t understand why. On the other hand, it was just a poorly executed protocol that served no purpose.”
Jose Mourinho criticised for response to Vinicius Junior incident
Meanwhile, Mourinho has been heavily criticised for his comments afterwards, as he suggested this is more of a problem with Vinicius himself than anything else.
As quoted by BBC Sport, the former Chelsea and Manchester United manager said: “There is something wrong because it happens in every stadium. A stadium where Vinicius plays something happens, always.”
Needless to say, this did not go down well, with the report also quoting former Real Madrid star Clarence Seedorf as saying: “I think he (Mourinho) is still emotional. I think he made a big mistake today to justify racial abuse.
“He’s saying it’s OK, when Vinicius provokes you, to be racist – and I think that is very wrong.
“We should never, ever justify racial abuse. Vinicius has had enough of that unjustified behaviour from people. I know Mourinho by heart would agree with me but he expressed himself a bit unfortunately, I believe.”
“People did fight, way before my time, for us to be able to perform… and to be in 2026 talking about the same thing, it’s tiring.
Thierry Henry and @MicahRichards share their experiences and frustrations about how far football still has to go to fight racism ? pic.twitter.com/oS5teP3mqT
— CBS Sports Golazo ?? (@CBSSportsGolazo) February 18, 2026
Trent Alexander-Arnold slams “disgusting” treatment of Vinicius Junior
Former Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold, who joined Real Madrid last summer, did not hold back with his views after the game.
The England international was clearly unhappy, saying: “I think what has happened tonight is a disgrace to football and overshadowed the performance, as well as an amazing goal.
“Vini has been subject to this a few times throughout his career. To ruin a night like this for our team is a disgrace.
“There is no place for it in football or society. It is disgusting.”
Benfica digging themselves an even deeper hole
Someone at Benfica surely needs to advise their players and manager a bit better, with an apology needed rather than what looks like some embarrassing doubling down.
Benfica forward Vangelis Pavlidis has defended Prestianni, suggesting either that Vinicius made it up or just majorly misunderstood.
“I don’t think Prestianni said anything like that to Vinicius. I think it has more to do with the heated rivalry between Brazil and Argentina than anything else,” he said.
Meanwhile, further comments from Mourinho defended the club’s reputation, insisting they cannot be racist due to their love for former player Eusebio.
“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,” he said.
He added: “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 (Eusebio) was black. This club, the last thing that it is, is racist.”
Kylian Mbappe calls for Gianluca Prestianni to be banned
Real Madrid star Kylian Mbappe joined in the criticism of Prestianni, and called for him to be banned from playing in the Champions League.
“I have the utmost respect for Benfica and their coach, who is one of the best in history and who made history with Real Madrid. But, in my opinion, this player doesn’t deserve to play in the Champions League anymore,” Mbappe said, as quoted by BBC Sport.
“We cannot accept that a player who plays in Europe’s top competition behaves like this. This guy doesn’t deserve to play in the Champions League anymore, but we’ll see what happens.
“Let’s leave it to Uefa, who always try to do something. Now they have a serious case, and I hope they do something.”
Source link
