The Champions League knockout playoff between Benfica and Actual Madrid was delayed by 10 minutes on Tuesday evening as Vinicius Junior walked off the pitch following an incident. The Brazil attacker had simply scored an impressive opening purpose within the fiftieth minute of the match in Lisbon’s Estadio da Luz when anger constructed amongst dwelling supporters, objects raining down on the pitch as Vinicius celebrated by the nook flag. The exuberance of his celebrations earned Vinicius a yellow card from referee Francois Letexier whereas tensions frayed between each units of gamers.
It was quickly after that Vinicius sprinted over to Letexier and was seen pointing at Benfica participant Gianluca Prestianni. The French referee made a gesture of crossed arms above his head, an initiative adopted by FIFA in 2024 to permit gamers and officers to sign that they imagine racist abuse has taken place on the sector.
Tv cameras caught Benfica ahead Gianluca Prestianni chatting with Vinicius together with his jersey masking his mouth; the Actual Madrid man appeared to subsequently make reference to that whereas chatting with Letexier. On the time of writing, it has not been confirmed that Prestianni is the determine alleged to have abused Vinicius.
In the meantime, a member of the Benfica teaching employees was proven a purple card as tempers constructed throughout the sector. Vinicius was noticed in an embrace with Jose Mourinho earlier than sitting on the Madrid bench, the delay to proceedings working to 10 minutes earlier than the match was resumed on the hour mark. Although there have been no additional flashpoints between the gamers, Vinicius’ each contact was booed by the Estadio da Luz and the sport was stopped momentarily within the 96th minute as gadgets had been thrown onto the pitch by supporters and as soon as once more within the 103rd minute as 12 minutes of added time had been issued.
Mourinho was despatched off for his complaints over a separate occasion as Madrid comfortably held onto their one purpose lead.
Vinicius has been racially abused on a number of events throughout his time as a Actual Madrid participant, significantly in 2023, when the incidents included an effigy of him being held on a bridge within the Spanish capital earlier than a match in opposition to Atletico Madrid. His campaigns in opposition to such intolerance and hatred have received the 25-year-old widespread admiration within the footballing world and past, with the states of Rio de Janeiro and Rio Grande do Sul implementing “Vinicius Junior legal guidelines” that can see sporting contests suspended over incidents of racist abuse.
