Football legend José Mourinho accused Real Madrid’s Vinícius Jr of inciting Benfica supporters with his goal celebration after the Brazil winger reported that he had been racially abused by Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni.
The Brazil international, 25, had scored a sensational goal in the 50th minute of the Champions League play-off first leg at the Estádio da Luz and proceeded to celebrate with a dance around the corner flag, in front of the home supporters, some of whom threw missiles onto the pitch.
The dance antagonised the Benfica players, leading to a confrontation, with Vinícius shown a yellow card for an excessive celebration. As the players were about to restart the game, Vinícius was approached by Prestianni, who covered his mouth with his jersey. The Brazilian immediately rushed over to François Letexier, the referee, to report a racist incident. The game was halted for ten minutes, with Vinícius and his teammates stepping off the field.
Real Madrid, who won the game 1-0, confirmed in a statement that the anti-racism protocol was activated by Letexier after Vinícius “reported receiving a racist insult from Prestianni”.
“It [the goal] should be the talk — a crazy moment of the game, an amazing goal,” Mourinho, the Benfica head coach, said. “Unfortunately, he was not just happy to score this amazing goal — and then the game was over. [If] you score a goal like that, you [should] celebrate respectfully.”
Mourinho was asked whether he was accusing Vinícius of inciting the crowd. “Yes, I believe so,” he replied.
“There is something wrong, because it happens in every stadium,” Mourinho said, referring to how Vinícius has been subject to racist abuse at several stadiums. “The stadium where Vinícius Jr plays, something happens — always.”
The Brazilian has been subject to racist abuse on multiple occasions, although usually from opposition supporters rather than players.
In May 2023, he was racially abused by fans at Valencia’s Mestalla Stadium, and later that year, the “Vinícius Jr Law” was passed in Brazil to deal with racism at sporting events. Three Valencia fans were sentenced to eight months in prison for abusing him in May 2023, while in May 2025, five were given suspended prison sentences for racially abusing the player.
As Vinícius stepped off the field and sat on the Real bench, a mêlée broke out between both benches, with a red card shown to one member of the Benfica staff. Mourinho approached the player and spoke to him.
“I told him when you score a goal like that, you celebrate and walk back,” Mourinho said. “When he was arguing about racism, I told him that the biggest person in the history of this club [Eusébio] was black. And the last thing this club is, is racist.”
The Portuguese added that Prestianni, the 20-year-old Argentine midfielder, and Vinícius “told me different things — but I don’t believe one or the other, I want to be independent”.
Vinícius took to Instagram, on which he has 59 million followers, to respond to the incident. “Racists are, above all, cowards,” he wrote. “They need to put their shirts in their mouths to show how weak they are. Nothing that happened today is new in my life or in my team’s life.”
Kylian Mbappé, the Real forward, said: “Uefa need to do their job now. What Prestianni did was a disgrace; it’s unacceptable.
“I asked Vini what he wanted to do. Whatever he wants to do, we’ll do it as a team. We’ll never leave Vini alone. We’ve supported our player. If something like that happens to you, how would you feel?
“Did Prestianni apologise? Did you see his face? An apology? We’re not stupid. I don’t let that kind of thing slide. How can you say these things on a football pitch? Now we have to see what happens. We were leaving, it was the team’s decision, I don’t know what happened, and then we came back. We focused on what we’re doing, but today the important thing isn’t the match; there’s something more important.
“We have to set an example for all the children who look up to us; there are things we can’t accept. People don’t know what happened, and that’s why they booed us. I have nothing against Benfica, the club, or its coach, who, for me, is one of the best, and the club is the best in Portugal and one of the best in history. But this kid [Prestianni] doesn’t deserve to play in the Champions League anymore.”
Trent Alexander-Arnold, the England international and Real full back, added: “What’s happened tonight is a disgrace to football. It overshadowed the performance, especially after such an amazing goal.
“Vini has been subjected to this a few times throughout his career. It happened tonight and ruined a night for us as a team. It’s a disgrace, a disgrace to football. There’s no place for it in football or society, so it’s disgusting.”
