Vinicius Jr. racism row: What happened in Lisbon during Real Madrid vs Benfica

The Real Madrid-Benfica clash in the UEFA Champions League ended in controversy as Vinicius Jr. alleged that Gianluca Prestianni racially abused him after he got the decisive goal in Lisbon.

Vinicius Jr. is known to be a player who always steps up for Real Madrid during big occasions, as we have seen over the years. During Real Madrid's knockout playoff match against Benfica, the Brazilian provided a moment of magic, scoring a beautiful goal that proved to be the difference as Los Blancos secured a 1-0 win. However, in Lisbon on Tuesday, February 18, he found himself in the middle of controversy, claiming he was racially abused right after he scored the goal.

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Vinicius accused Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni of racially abusing him right after getting the winner in the 50th minute, forcing the Brazilian to go to the referee to complain. The game was halted for 10 minutes as French referee Francois Letexier activated UEFA's racism protocol. Vinicius was seen telling the official that he was called 'mono', the Spanish word for monkey by Prestianni. A video clip right after the goal shows the Benfica player covering his face while talking to the Real Madrid star, who quickly went to tell the referee.

This is what happened between Vincius Jr and Prestianni.He scored an absolute banger, he went to celebrate it, got booked, and then the Argentine Prestianni was pissed and reacted by covering his mouth to racially insult him. pic.twitter.com/Iv7tcFvAeQ

Vinicius took to social media to respond to the matter on his Instagram story, calling Prestianni a coward for covering his mouth while talking to him and racially abusing him. This isn't the first time the Brazilian forward has faced racial abuse, after incidents in Valencia and during the Madrid derby with Atltico Madrid fans being convicted.

“Racists are, above all, cowards," Vinicius wrote on Instagram, referencing Prestianni covering his mouth with his shirt. “They need to put their shirts over their mouths to show how weak they are."