• Brazilian accuses referee of ‘poorly executed protocol’

• Real Madrid eventually play on after 10-minute delay

Vinícius Júnior declared that “racists are above all cowards [who] need to put their shirts in their mouth to demonstrate how weak they are” and attacked the failure of the referee to act after he was allegedly abused by Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni during Real Madrid’s 1-0 win in Lisbon. The Brazilian was seemingly minded to walk off and the Madrid coach, Álvaro Arbeloa, said that they would have joined him, although they did eventually play on after a 10-minute delay. Kylian Mbappé said afterwards that Prestianni should not be allowed to play in the Champions league again.

Vinícius had run to the referee, François Letexier, when Prestianni said something to him after celebrating the only goal of the night on 50 minutes. Prestianni covered his mouth as he spoke but Mbappé later backed the Brazilian’s accusation that the word used had been “mono” or monkey. The referee performed the gesture that confirmed that he was activating the anti-racism protocol and the game but following conversations between players, managers and officials the two teams did eventually play on.

Vinícius Júnior and his teammates appeared ready to walk off and the game was delayed for 10 minutes as the Brazilian was allegedly subject to racist abuse after scoring the goal that gives Real Madrid a 1-0 first-leg lead in their Champions League playoff against Benfica.

The Brazilian had celebrated a sensational strike by dancing in the corner of the Estádio da Luz and in the confrontations that followed, Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni said something to him while covering his mouth. Vinícius immediately ran to the referee, François Letexier, who stopped the match and crossed his arms to signal that he was activating the anti-racism protocol.