Vinícius Júnior says he was racially insulted
Madrid, Feb 18: 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.
Claims of racism in Benfica-Madrid clash
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.
Prestianni had earlier approached Vinícius while covering his mouth with his jersey.
Benfica coach Jose Mourinho, who also spoke to Vinícius, said his player denied the accusation of racism.
“They told me different things,” he said, adding that he wanted to be independent.
But in reference to previous occasions when Vinícius has been subjected to racist taunts, Mourinho said: “But there is something wrong because it happens in every stadium. … The stadium where Vinícius played something happened. Always.”
Vinícius sat alone in the dugout before play resumed without any players being sent off as a result of his claims.
Prestianni has denied racially insulting Vinícius.
“I have never been racist with anyone and I regret the threats that I received from Real Madrid players,” the 20-year-old Argentina forward, who faces a potential 10-match ban if found guilty of racial abuse in UEFA’s disciplinary code, said on X.
UEFA said Wednesday it has appointed a special investigator to gather evidence.
PSG survive scare
The defending champion is making hard work of its title defence.
Failure to advance directly to the round of 16 after the league phase of the competition left Luis Enrique’s team having to negotiate an all-French playoff against Monaco. And despite PSG’s dominance of the French league, it found itself 2-0 down after 18 minutes at Stade Louis-II.
United States forward Folarin Balogun headed Monaco in front inside a minute and then doubled the home team’s lead.
After Vitinha failed to score from the penalty spot Luis Enrique sent for Doue in the 27th.
Within two minutes he’d pulled a goal back and when another of his efforts were saved shortly before halftime, Achraf Hakimi followed up with an equaliser.
Monaco was down to 10 men early in the second half when Aleksandr Golovin was sent off and Doue struck the winner with another clinical finish in the 67th.
“The way I played was not the most important (thing). The most important thing is the win. We did the job, so we are very happy. It is my job to help the team,” Doue said.
Bad night for Italian teams
Galatasaray pushed Juventus to the brink of elimination in a wild comeback win in Istanbul.
Trailing 2-1 at halftime in the playoff match at RAMS Park, the Turkish giant powered back after the break. Noa Lang scored two of Galatasaray’s four second-half goals to stun two-time European champion Juve.
Galatasaray takes a three-goal lead into the second leg in Turin next week with the chance to advance to the round of 16 for the first time since 2014.
Juventus responded well to going a goal down through Gabriel Sara after 15 minutes, with Teun Koopmeiners equalising a minute later and adding another before halftime.
But Galatasaray took control in the second half half. Lang levelled four minutes after the restart, scoring from close range.
Davinson Sanchez gave the home team the lead on the hour and Juventus’ challenge was made all the more difficult when Juan Cabal was sent off 22 minutes after coming on as a halftime substitute.
Lang got his second when capitalizing on sloppy play from Juventus’ defence in its own box and Sacha Boey drove in from the angle in the 86th.
Dortmund is in control against Atalanta after goals from Serhou Guirassy and Maximilian Beier gave the Germans a 2-0 lead heading into next week’s second leg in Italy. (AP)
