Real Madrid: Vinícius receives racist insults at Mestalla and ends up being sent off

BarcelonaThe hottest match in the League was played this Sunday in Mestalla. The local victory, achieved by 1-0 thanks to a goal from Diego López in the first half and which represents a giant step for Valencia to stay in the First Division, has been put in the background by the non-sporting role of Vinícius Júnior. The Real Madrid striker has threatened to leave the pitch in the second half after receiving racist insults from the area of ​​the most radical fans of the X team. “It was you!, it was you!”, repeated the white footballer over and over as he pointed his finger at the person who had uttered some unfortunate adjectives. The match was stopped for more than 10 minutes and did not resume until the immediate cessation of these attitudes was requested over the public address system. It is not the first time that the international with the canarinha suffer for this reason.

In stoppage time, Vinícius, who was very hot for everything that had happened, was sent off with a straight red at the behest of the VAR for assaulting Hugo Duro after a tackle in the Mamardashvili area. At the moment of leaving the pitch, the Brazilian has retired clapping ironically and heading to the Mestalla stands with two fingers of his hand and a gesture of descent, which has caused the angry reaction of the bench of Valencia . “He was not at all right with this gesture, but it is equally true that Vinícius lacks respect in all stadiums”, reflected his teammate Dani Ceballos at the end of a match that lasted almost 115 minutes throughout the addition that De Burgos Bengoetxea had to apply, who last Sunday already had to deal with the controversial final of the Barcelona derby in Cornellà-El Prat.

In the press room, the coach of Madrid, Carlo Ancelotti, has shown his point of view on the sequence of Vinícius with the racist insults. The Italian, who is in doubt because of the European elimination at the hands of Manchester City, has exploded: “You can’t play football like this. It’s too serious. They throw a ball from the stands onto the grass, they insult Vini all the time for a while and then they take the red card off him. In 2023 there can be no racism […] The whole stadium has chanted “monkey” and there must be a protocol if it happens again. The match must be denounced and stopped.” Later, Vinícius himself published a strong post on Instagram: “The prize for the racists was my expulsion. It’s not football, it’s LaLiga.”

Mamardashvili, hero with three decisive saves

In the midst of the storm, Valencia has achieved a vital victory to continue in Primera for another season. Rubén Baraja’s team made good on the goal of young Diego López in the first half and devoted themselves to defending the positive income in the second. The work of Almeida and Nico González in midfield has been as commendable as the defensive strength of Cömert, Foulquier or Gayà. All in all, Madrid had up to three scoring opportunities in the final stretch – from Valverde, Kroos and Benzema – which required the decisive intervention of Mamardashvili. Especially the first one, at the mouth of the cannon, earned the Georgian goalkeeper the MVP award of the match. With this victory, Valencia moves five points clear of the relegation zone, which currently delimits Valladolid with 35 points.