{"id":759969,"date":"2026-02-18T09:05:21","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T09:05:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/759969\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T09:05:21","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T09:05:21","slug":"vinicius-jr-cuts-a-lonely-weary-figure-on-another-ugly-night-for-football","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/759969\/","title":{"rendered":"Vinicius Jr cuts a lonely, weary figure on another ugly night for football"},"content":{"rendered":"

Half an hour after the final whistle at the Estadio da Luz, Vinicius Junior was already showered and dressed, walking out of Real Madrid\u2019s dressing room, past a scrum of reporters and onto the bus \u2014 travel bag in his right hand, phone in his left hand, an almighty burden on his shoulders.<\/p>\n

He was in no mood to hang around after a grim night like this. He looked younger than his 25 years, smaller than his recorded height of 5ft 9in (175cm), less like a football superstar and more like a boy who has seen too much, heard too much, suffered too much and is wearied by it all \u2014 blessed with extraordinary talent as a footballer, but subjected so often to the worst of human prejudices.<\/p>\n

Vinicius Jr had settled the first leg of this Champions League play-off in Lisbon with a wonderful goal, but the beauty of that moment was forgotten in the ugliness that followed<\/a>: first the deluge of missiles that rained down as he celebrated in front of Benfica\u2019s supporters; then his allegation of racial abuse by an opposition player, which led the referee to suspend play for 10 minutes; then the loud boos and jeers that were aimed at him from the home crowd for the remainder of Madrid\u2019s 1-0 victory; then the claims and counter claims in the bitter aftermath, in which Benfica coach Jose Mourinho effectively accused him of inciting the incident<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is something wrong because it happens in every stadium,\u201d Mourinho said in his post-match interview with Prime Video. \u201cEvery stadium where Vinicius plays, something happens. Always.\u201d<\/p>\n

That much is true; to a long list of away grounds where Vinicius Jr has suffered abuse, which includes Barcelona, Real Mallorca, Atletico Madrid, Real Valladolid, Sevilla, Getafe and Valencia, we can now add Benfica\u2019s Estadio da Luz.<\/p>\n

But Mourinho was not expressing solidarity. He was implying that Vinicius Jr brings it on himself by provoking opposition fans \u2014 something that Mourinho, of course, would never dream of.<\/p>\n

Mourinho suggested Vinicius Jr could have avoided it all by showing the home crowd more respect rather than by dancing in front of them at the corner flag. That was the only thing he wished to denounce: not the missiles thrown at the Madrid bus before the game; not the objects thrown at Vinicius Jr; not the racially abusive term that the Madrid forward accused one of Benfica\u2019s players of making; not the sustained howls of abuse to which Vinicius Jr was subjected after that.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n The flashpoint involving Vinicius Jr and Gianluca Prestianni (Patricia De Melo Moreira\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The player in question, Gianluca Prestianni, denied the allegation. \u201cI want to clarify that in no moment did I direct racist results at the player Vinicius Jr, who unfortunately misinterpreted what he believed he had heard,\u201d the Benfica forward wrote on Instagram afterwards. \u201cI have never been racist towards anyone and I regret the threats I received from Real Madrid players.\u201d<\/p>\n

Madrid forward Kylian Mbappe was insistent. \u201cThe No 25 of Benfica \u2014 I don\u2019t want to say his name (Prestianni), he does not deserve it \u2014 began to speak badly, which can happen in football,\u201d he told reporters. \u201cBut then he put his jersey over his face to say that Vinicius is a monkey, five times. I heard it. There are Benfica players who heard it too. From that point, everything you saw happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

Benfica responded at 2:11am, more than four hours after the final whistle, by posting a video on their X account showing the Prestianni-Vinicius Jr exchange from behind, with Mbappe a little further away, and saying that these images \u201cdemonstrate, given the distance, that the Real Madrid players could not have heard what they claim to have heard\u201d.<\/p>\n

Como demonstram as imagens, dada a dist\u00e2ncia, os jogadores do Real Madrid n\u00e3o podem ter ouvido o que andam a dizer que ouviram. pic.twitter.com\/7JF9AVuhEM<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 SL Benfica (@SLBenfica) February 18, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Set alongside even Mourinho\u2019s admission that he could not simply take either player\u2019s word above the other\u2019s, Benfica\u2019s insistence on their player\u2019s innocence seemed imprudent. Their sharing of Prestianni\u2019s statement \u2014 along with the words \u201cJuntos, ao teu lado\u201d (Together, by your side) \u2014\u00a0pointed at a familiar and misplaced rush towards solidarity at a time that called for circumspection.<\/p>\n

UEFA, European football\u2019s governing body, will be expected to investigate the matter once it receives the observations of the match officials, led by referee Francois Letexier, who immediately responded to Vinicius Jr by crossing his arms to signal that he was stopping play in response to an allegation of racial abuse.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll we can say at the moment is the official reports from the matches played last night are currently being reviewed,\u201d a UEFA spokesperson said on Wednesday. \u201cWhere matters are reported, proceedings are opened and should they lead to disciplinary sanctions being imposed, they are announced on the UEFA disciplinary website.\u201d<\/p>\n

Play was suspended for 10 minutes and there was a heated exchange on the touchline between players, coaches and staff of both clubs. For a time, it appeared that Vinicius Jr, slumped on the bench looking aggrieved, would not continue.<\/p>\n

But he played on. He has always regarded that as the best response to abuse. \u201cI\u2019m not a victim of racism, I\u2019m a tormentor of racists,\u201d he once told reporters. And whether he and Mbappe had heard what they said they heard, or whether it was a case of mishearing and misinterpreting (as Prestianni claims), that flashpoint, along with the ensuing hostility from the terraces, appeared to fuel Vinicius Jr for the rest of the game.<\/p>\n

It must be exhausting, though. There have been times when Vinicius Jr has admitted that, for all his attempts to defy and even at times provoke the haters, he has found it overwhelming. \u201cI feel sadder and sadder and I have less and less desire to play,\u201d he told reporters in March 2024. \u201cBut if I leave here (Real Madrid), I\u2019m going to give the racists what they want.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Vinicius Jr is booked for his celebrations after scoring (Angel Martinez\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

In Spain, the number of incidents has fallen in part because, after years of complacency or even outright denial, the appalling treatment of Vinicius Jr has led to a belated sense of action. La Liga, which at one stage was accused by Vinicius Jr of \u201cdoing nothing\u201d about racist abuse<\/a> from the crowd, has filed separate complaints that have led to criminal cases. Four people were handed suspended jail sentences<\/a> last year of between 14 and 22 months after an inflatable effigy, wearing Vinicius\u2019s Real Madrid shirt, was held from a bridge before a Copa del Rey match against Atletico Madrid in January 2023.<\/p>\n

But the hostility towards Vinicius Jr from the terraces persists and while it is easy and convenient to pass that off in the way Mourinho and various TV pundits tried to, he is hardly the only player in world football who enjoys a mildly provocative goal celebration. For some people, there appears to be something so triggering about those celebrations when they are performed by a young Black man who has both the coordination and the swagger to make them work.<\/p>\n

What was different about Tuesday \u2014 the only thing that was different \u2014 was that the accusation centred on an opposition player. Vinicius Jr, in his own Instagram statement<\/a>, said that racists are \u201ccowards\u201d who \u201cneed to put their shirts over their mouths to show how weak they are\u201d. He added that racists have \u201cthe protection of others who, in theory, have an obligation to punish\u201d.<\/p>\n

Most striking was the line that \u201cnothing that happened today is a tragedy in my life or in my family\u2019s life\u201d. He sounded resigned to it, as if this is simply what happens when he plays, scores a goal and has the temerity to celebrate.<\/p>\n

It was, to repeat, a brilliant goal: a Vinicius Jr special, cutting in from the left-hand side, teasing the opposition defender, making space for himself and curling a beautiful shot inside the far corner. But it was rendered largely irrelevant by what followed, which his team-mate Trent Alexander-Arnold described as a \u201cdisgrace to football\u201d. Prestianni and Benfica, it needs to be restated, dispute that version of events.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Vinicius Jr scores Madrid\u2019s winner (Filipe Amorim\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

But it was, as Alexander-Arnold suggests, an ugly and deeply unpleasant night. Quite apart from the allegation made against Prestianni, there was the hail of missiles that had rained down on Vinicius Jr just before that and the shower of invective that followed after play had been stopped due to his belief he had been racially abused.<\/p>\n

Then there was the painfully predictable post-match rush to deflect away from an allegation of racism and to ask whether Vinicius Jr had somehow brought it upon himself. And one hopes that in the cold light of day, Mourinho, of all people, will recognise that such a suggestion was appalling.<\/p>\n

Because the reality is that, yes, it does follow Vinicius Jr. And as he left the dressing room in Lisbon, it was possible to see him not as the beguiling tormentor you watch with the ball at his feet but as a young man desperate to enjoy his football, one instead having to put another horribly bittersweet night behind him and to keep trying, somehow, to draw strength from it.<\/p>\n