The Brazilian striker became the focus of Real’s 0-1 loss to Valencia in round 35 of La Liga on the night of May 21.
Final result Valencia vs Real Madrid (1-0)
Scorer: Diego Lopez (33′)
Red card: Vinicius (Real Madrid, 90+7′)
According to Spanish newspaper Marca, Vinicius began to lose his temper and pointed at people with racist words on the Mestalla field. The Brazilian striker also complained about the incident to referee De Burgos Bengoetxea, who then went to speak with Valencia coach Ruben Baraja and an authorized person on the pitch to broadcast a message from the public radio system calling for an end. stop insults.
Mr. Bengoetxea has introduced a new rule that puts the match at risk of being suspended. FIFA recently changed the law to allow referees to suspend or even cancel matches for racist incidents.
In the first, De Burgos asked the notice to stop the insults and hurl objects on the pitch. Not long after, Vinicius continued to denounce a specific audience, prompting the Mestalla’s public address system to replay the message. The third warning means the game will be paused. At that time, it was De Burgos who reassured the Real striker. “Believe me, next time we’ll be off the field,” he told Vinicius.
However, the 22-year-old striker could not keep his composure and hit Hugo Duro in the face in a situation where players from both teams clashed in the seventh minute. The referee initially showed a yellow card, but changed it to a red card later referring to VAR. As he left the field, Vinicius held up two fingers in the direction of the stands filled with enthusiastic fans, hinting that Valencia is likely to be relegated next season.
After the match, Vinicius wrote on Instagram: “The reward that the racists are giving me a red card. This is not football, it is La Liga. This is not the first time, nor the second time. second or third. Racism is normal in La Liga. The opponents think it’s normal, so the organizers and teams encourage it.”
According to Vinicius, La Liga was once admired when it owned outstanding players like Ronaldinho, Ronaldo de Lima, Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi, but now “belongs to the racists”. He continued: “Sorry Spaniards disagree, but nowadays in Brazil, Spain is known as a country of racists. And unfortunately with everything that happens every day week, I have no way to stop it. But I am strong and I will do whatever it takes to fight the racists, even if I am so far away from here.”
In the post-match press conference, coach Carlo Ancelotti said he had talked to Vinicius but did not want to change his student because of racist words. According to the Italian coach, the referee should have been stronger and canceled the match.
This match, Valencia won 1-0 thanks to Diego Lopez’s close-range cushion in the 33rd minute. This result helps Valencia move towards the goal of relegation when it currently has 40 points, five points above the “red light” group. Meanwhile, Real lost second place to Atletico – the same city club crushed Osasuna 3-0 at home.
Line-ups for Valencia vs Real Madrid
Valencia: Mamardashvili, Correia (Lato 68), Comert, Ozkacar, Gaya (Musah 90), Gonzalez, Moreno, Noguerol (Foulquier 58), Almeida, Justin Kluivert (Hard 90), Cavani (Dias Lino 58).
Real Madrid: Courtois, Vazquez, Militao, Rudiger, Mendy (Carvajal 86), Camavinga (Rodrygo 46), Tchouameni (Valverde 86), Ceballos (Kroos 65), Asensio (Modric 65), Benzema, Vinicius.