A UEFA Champions League match between Real Madrid and Benfica was suspended for nearly 10 minutes on Tuesday night after Vinícius Júnior accused an opposing player of racially insulting him during Madrid’s 1-0 victory in Lisbon.
French referee François Letexier stopped play in the 52nd minute, crossing his arms above his head to initiate UEFA’s anti-racism protocol after Vinícius reported that Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni had called him “monkey.” Television footage showed the Brazilian forward pointing at the Argentine midfielder and informing the referee of the alleged remark.
The incident unfolded moments after Vinícius curled a shot into the top corner and celebrated by dancing near the corner flag. Benfica supporters reacted angrily, throwing bottles and objects toward Madrid players. Prestianni approached Vinícius, appearing to speak while covering his mouth with his shirt — a gesture that drew immediate suspicion from Madrid players.
Vinícius, who has previously faced racist abuse in Spain, went to the sideline and sat in the dugout while the stoppage continued. Some Madrid teammates began moving toward the bench, and both coaches approached the scene during tense exchanges near the technical areas.
After the match, Vinícius posted on Instagram alongside 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.”
Madrid defender Trent Alexander-Arnold condemned the episode. “What’s happened tonight is a disgrace to football,” he said. “It’s overshadowed the performance, especially after such an amazing goal. Vini has been subjected to this a few times throughout his career, and for it to happen tonight and ruin the night for us as a team is a disgrace. There’s no place for it in football or society. It’s disgusting.”
Forward Kylian Mbappé and midfielder Aurélien Tchouaméni revealed the team briefly considered walking off the pitch. Mbappé said he asked Vinícius what he wanted to do before deciding to continue. Cameras later showed Mbappé confronting Prestianni, appearing to call him a racist along with expletives.
“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.”
Midfielder Federico Valverde said teammates near the exchange told him Prestianni “said something ugly, that shouldn’t be said.” He added, “If you cover your mouth to say something it’s because you are saying something that is not nice. I’m proud of my teammates who defended Vini and of Vini.”
Benfica players offered a different account. Leandro Barreiro said Prestianni admitted provoking Vinícius but denied using racist language. “I asked him and he said it was a normal provocation between players during a match,” Barreiro said. “He said it was nothing racist.”
Benfica manager José Mourinho, who was later sent off in the 86th minute for protesting refereeing decisions, said he did not want to state he believed one player over the other after speaking with both. However, he criticized Vinícius’ celebration.
“Unfortunately he was not just happy to score that astonishing goal,” Mourinho said. “When you score a goal like that, you celebrate in a respectful way.” He added that he reminded Vinícius that Benfica legend Eusébio was Black, before questioning why incidents seem to follow the Madrid forward. “There is something wrong because it happens in every stadium. The stadium where Vinicius played something happened. Always.”
The referee appeared to indicate he had not personally heard any racist remark and gestured that Prestianni’s shirt was covering his mouth. The 20-year-old Argentine was neither cautioned nor sent off and continued playing until he was substituted in the 81st minute to applause from Benfica fans.
When play resumed in the 60th minute, Vinícius was loudly jeered by the home crowd for the remainder of the match. In the closing minutes, he was struck by a thrown bottle near the sideline. The referee requested a stadium announcement warning supporters against throwing objects.
Mbappé was also jeered as he defended his teammate during confrontations with Benfica players.
The Brazilian Football Confederation later issued a message of solidarity, stating that Vinícius was “not alone,” that “racism is a crime,” and that it has “no place in soccer anywhere.” The federation praised his decision to report the incident as “an example of courage and dignity. We are proud of you.”
Madrid coach Álvaro Arbeloa and Mourinho were both seen speaking to Vinícius during the stoppage, as tensions simmered in a match that ended with Madrid’s narrow victory overshadowed by allegations of racism and renewed debate over football’s response to abuse.
