Real Madrid superstar Vinicius Junior walks off field following alleged racist incident at Benfica

An incident following his goal resulted in the Brazilian and fellow players walking off the pitch

The Champions League knockout playoff between Benfica and Real Madrid was delayed by 10 minutes on Tuesday night after Vinicius Junior reported an alleged racial incident. The Brazil attacker had just scored an outstanding opening goal in the 50th minute of the match in Lisbon's Estadio da Luz when anger built among home supporters, objects raining down on the pitch as Vinicius celebrated by the corner flag. The exuberance of his celebrations earned Vinicius a yellow card from referee Francois Letexier while tensions frayed between both sets of players.

It was soon after that Vinicius sprinted over to Letexier and was seen pointing at Benfica player Gianluca Prestianni. The French referee made a gesture of crossed arms above his head, an initiative adopted by FIFA in 2024 to allow players and officials to signal that they believe racist abuse has taken place on the field. Television cameras caught Benfica forward Gianluca Prestianni speaking to Vinicius with his jersey covering his mouth; the Real Madrid man appeared to subsequently make reference to that while speaking to Letexier. 

Posting on his Instagram stories after the game, Vinicius said: "Racists are, above all, cowards. They need to put their shirts over their mouths to demonstrate how weak they are. But they have, on their side, the protection of others who, theoretically, have the obligation to punish. Nothing that happened today is new in my life and my family's.

"I received a yellow card for celebrating a goal. I still don't understand why. On the other hand, just a poorly executed protocol that served no purpose. I don't like appearing in situations like this, even more so after a great victory and when the headlines have to be about Real Madrid, but it's necessary."

Speaking after the game, several visiting players also alleged that Prestianni had racially abused their teammate. "This can't happen," Aurelien Tchouameni told Movistar. "Vini told us that the kid called him a monkey. He said he didn't say anything..."