Mourinho Slams Vinícius Jr. Celebration Amid Racism Allegation

José Mourinho has criticised Vinícius Júnior’s goal celebration following Real Madrid’s 1-0 Champions League victory at Benfica, an incident that escalated into a confrontation where the player claimed he was racially abused.

Vinícius put Madrid ahead in the 50th minute at the Estádio da Luz. His subsequent celebration, dancing by the corner flag, led to an exchange of words with several Benfica players, including Gianluca Prestianni, whom Vinícius then accused of racial abuse.

Mourinho, who received a red card himself in the 85th minute and faces a touchline ban for next week’s second leg at the Bernabéu, spoke with both players on the pitch during a 10-minute stoppage as the referee initiated UEFA’s anti-racism protocol.

“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.”

The former Chelsea and Manchester United boss continued: “All I know is that up until the goal, it was a great match… 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 appeared to allude to the numerous past incidents of racist abuse Vinícius has faced from fans. “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 press conference. “Vinicius scored a fantastic goal. Why didn’t he celebrate like Eusebio, Pelé, or Di Stéfano?”

When questioned about his own sending off, the Benfica coach stated: “I was sent off for saying something very obvious. 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.”