José Mourinho criticized Vinícius Júnior‘s goal celebration after the forward scored in Real Madrid‘s 1-0 Champions League win at Benfica, before a confrontation in which the player said he was racially abused.
Vinícius put Madrid ahead in the 50th minute at the Estadio da Luz, and celebrated by dancing by the corner flag, before exchanging words with several Benfica players including Gianluca Prestianni, who Vinicius then accused of racial abuse.
Mourinho, who was shown a red card himself in the 85th minute, and will be suspended for next week’s second leg at the Bernabéu, spoke with both players on the field, during a 10-minute stoppage after the referee initiated UEFA’s anti-racism protocol, before play continued.
“Vinícius says one thing, and Prestianni says another,” Mourinho told Movistar. “I don’t want to say that I 100% support Prestianni, but I also can’t say that what Vinícius told me is the truth. I can’t, I don’t know.
“All I know is that up until the goal, it was a great match. Benfica started very well, and Real Madrid were incredibly strong…Then Vinícius scored a goal that only he or [Kylian] Mbappé could score. After that, he should have been carried off on his teammates’ shoulders, and not messed with 60,000 people in this stadium. That’s all I’m saying.”
Mourinho then appeared to refer to the numerous incidents of racist abuse from fans which Vinícius has experienced in recent years, which have resulted in prosecutions and convictions in Spanish courts.
“In how many stadiums has this happened? How many?” Mourinho asked. “He’s an out-of- this-world player, I love him. But you score a goal like this…you leave on your teammates’ shoulders. That’s where the game ended.”
“Something’s not working,” Mourinho added in his post-match news conference. “Vinicius scored a fantastic goal. Why didn’t he celebrate like Eusebio, Pelé, or Di Stéfano?”
The Benfica and former Madrid coach was also asked about his sending off.
“I was sent off for saying something very obvious,” Mourinho said. “The referee had a piece of paper that said, ‘[Aurélien] Tchouaméni, [Álvaro] Carreras, and [Dean] Huijsen can’t receive a yellow card.’ He didn’t want to book Carreras or Tchouaméni. I told the referee, because I’ve spent 1,400 games on the bench, and he knew perfectly well who he could book and who he couldn’t. We know how things work.”
