Madrid, Feb 19: The Champions League playoffs were overshadowed by claims of racism towards Real Madrid player Vinícius Júnior in angry scenes after the Brazilian scored a brilliant winning goal against Benfica on Tuesday.Play was halted when Vinícius claimed he had been racially insulted by an opponent during Madrid’s 1-0 win.
“He’s been subjected to this a few times throughout his career and he’s handled it excellently. But for it to carry on and for it to happen tonight, it’s a disgrace to football,” Madrid defender Trent Alexander-Arnold told Amazon.
Paris Saint-Germain’s title defence looked to be unravelling when 2-0 down in Monaco until Desire Doue came off the bench to inspire a 3-2 win.
Galatasaray beat Juventus 5-2 and Borussia Dortmund won 2-0 against Atalanta.
Vinícius had just whipped a wonderful goal into the top corner to give record 15-time champion Madrid the lead in the first leg of its playoff with Benfica at the Stadium of Light. He and his teammates celebrated wildly, with the forward dancing in the corner.
What followed were ugly scenes that led to Vinícius informing referee Francois Letexier that a racist comment had been made. He appeared to point at Argentine player Gianluca Prestianni when complaining to the official, who crossed his arms to signal football’s anti racism protocol.