After shouting loudly, Vinicius Junior Danced again. in front of this bar real Madrid Supporters led their team to the Round of 16 of the Champions League a week after relegation benfica Opposed to racially insulting them.
The Brazilian scored in the 80th minute to give the record 15-time European champions a 2-1 win in the second leg of the playoff tie, taking the aggregate score to 3-1.
Vinicius celebrated by dancing near the corner flag in the same manner as in the first leg – again in front of the Benfica fans – leading to a confrontation with Portuguese teammates and accusations of gianluca prestieni Called him a racist abuse.
“I’m happy that Vinny dances and keeps dancing, it means he’s scoring goals,” the Madrid goalkeeper said. Thibaut Courtois.
“He is our Vinicius,” the midfielder said. Aurélien TchoumeniMinutes after Benfica took the lead, Joe scored Madrid’s first goal in the 16th. rafa silva.
Prestiani, who has denied racially abusing Vinicius and has been defended by Benfica, was temporarily suspended for one match by UEFA and did not play on Wednesday, even though Argentina traveled to the Spanish capital. uefa first wednesday Benfica’s last-minute appeal rejected Against provisional suspension.
Last week’s match was stopped for about 10 minutes after the referee invoked anti-racism protocols following Vinicius’ complaint.
On Wednesday, Vinicius scored on a breakaway, sending a low shot past the goalkeeper for his sixth goal in his last five games for Madrid.
The over 3,000 Benfica fans at the Bernabeu jeered almost every time Vinicius touched the ball. He celebrated when he lost control of the ball early in the game. Benfica supporters also booed loudly when the Brazilian was announced in the starting lineup before the match.
As the match progressed, the noise gradually subsided and Madrid took control of the game.
Vinicius also took part in the creation of Madrid’s second goal, but it was ruled out for offside.
Before Wednesday’s match, Madrid fans displayed a banner that read, “No to racism.” A “Respect” banner was also shown behind one of the goals at the Bernabéu.
After the game, Madrid announced it would begin the process of banning the fan who was thrown from the stadium after being caught on TV giving a Nazi salute before kick-off.
Madrid fans also make fun of Benfica’s central defender Nicolas Otamendi Touched the ball. Otamendi, who is also Argentinian, was one of the players who confronted Vinicius after the Brazilian celebrated by a Benfica flag.
Also missing for Benfica was former Madrid coach Jose Mourinho, who was sent off late in the first leg for complaining to the referee. Mourinho did not attend a pregame news conference on Tuesday and was expected to watch the match from the stands at the Bernabeu.
madrid defender Raul Asencio He had to be carried off the field on a stretcher and taken to a local hospital for tests after a violent collision with a teammate Eduardo Camavinga In the second part.
The central defender hit the ground hard and had to remain on the field for a few minutes. The medical staff stabilized him before being taken off the field.
madrid were already without France Ahead kilian mbappeWho could not play Wednesday’s game due to a knee injury.
“I hope it’s not serious and he can come back in a few days or weeks,” Madrid coach Alvaro Arbeloa said.
“Without Killian, we must [Vini] More than that…he must become our leader.”
ESPN’s Alex Kirkland and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
