Madrid game at Benfica halted for several minutes as Vinícius says opponent racially insulted him

LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Real Madrid forward Vinícius Júnior accused an opponent of racially insulting him during Tuesday's Champions League game against Benfica, leading to the game being halted for nearly 10 minutes amid angry scenes at the Stadium of Light.

Madrid defender Trent Alexander-Arnold called the incident “a disgrace to football” while Benfica manager Jose Mourinho said Vinícius had incited his players and fans by the way he celebrated his goal in the 1-0 win for Madrid.

Vinícius had just curled in a shot into the top corner when French referee François Letexier had to stop the match in the 52nd minute, making a signal with his arms to show that an accusation of racism had been made.

Benfica fans had reacted angrily to Vinícius celebrating his goal by dancing by the corner flag, throwing bottles and other objects toward the Madrid players. Benfica player Gianluca Prestianni then confronted Vinícius and said something while covering his mouth with his jersey.

The Brazil forward then suddenly pointed to his Argentine opponent and ran toward the referee.

Cameras picked up Vinícius telling Letexier that Prestianni called him “monkey.”

After the match, Vinícius posted a photo on Instagram of him celebrating by the Benfica corner flag. He wrote: “Racists are, above all, cowards. They need to cover their mouths with their shirts to show how they are weak. ... Nothing that happened today is new to me in my life and in my family’s life. I was shown a yellow card for celebrating a goal. I still don’t know why.”

When Vinícius made his complaint, the referee immediately stopped the match and crossed his arms above his head to start the anti-racism protocol. Vinícius, who is Black and has been repeatedly subjected to racist abuse in Spain, went to the sideline and sat in the dugout while play was stopped. Some of his teammates also started to walk toward the sideline.

Mbappé and midfielder Aurélien Tchouaméni said the team considered leaving the field but eventually decided to continue playing. Mbappé said he asked Vinícius to see what he wanted to do.

“What’s happened tonight is a disgrace to football,” Alexander-Arnold said after the game. “It’s overshadowed the performance, especially after such an amazing goal. Vini has been subjected to this a few times throughout his career, and for it to happen tonight and ruin the night for us as a team is a disgrace. There’s no place for it in football or society. It’s disgusting.”

The 20-year-old Prestianni just looked on from afar as Vinícius talked to the referee.

“The players who were near said that (Prestianni) said something ugly, that shouldn’t be said,” Madrid midfielder Federico Valverde said. “If you cover your mouth to say something it’s because you are saying something that is not nice. I’m proud of my teammates who defended Vini and of Vini.”

Benfica players said Prestianni told them that he provoked Vinícius but never used any racist insult.

“I asked him and he said it was a normal provocation between players during a match,” Benfica midfielder Leandro Barreiro said. “He said it was nothing racist.”

Both coaches, Benfica's Mourinho and Madrid's Álvaro Arbeloa, talked to Vinícius near the benches.

Mourinho said he did not want to say he believed one player over the other after talking to both, but criticized Vinícius for celebrating near the fans.

“Unfortunately he was not just happy to score that astonishing goal,” Mourinho told Amazon Prime. “When you score a goal like that, you celebrate in a respectful way.”

Mourinho said he told Vinícius that the greatest player in Benfica's history — Eusébio — was black, but seemed to question why the Real Madrid player is so frequently targeted by racist abuse.

“There is something wrong because it happens in every stadium,” Mourinho said. “The stadium where Vinicius played something happened. Always.”

The referee appeared to show that he did not hear anything and gestured that Prestianni had the shirt over his mouth.

The Argentine player was not shown a yellow card and continued playing. He was substituted in the 81st and was applauded by Benfica fans.

The game restarted in the 60th and Vinícius was jeered loudly by the home crowd during the rest of the match.

He was hit by the bottle in the final minutes while near the sidelines in front of Benfica fans. The referee asked for an announcement to be made through the stadium's loudspeakers to warn fans not to through objects onto the field.

Mbappé, who was defending Vinícius while Benfica players confronted his teammate, was also jeered by Benfica supporters. Cameras also showed Mbappé apparently telling Prestianni that he was a racist, along with expletives.

“We can't accept that a player who plays in Europe's top competition behaves like that,” Mbappé said. “He shouldn't keep playing in the competition. Let's see what happens now.”

The Brazilian soccer confederation showed solidarity with Vinícius, saying in an X post that he was “not alone” and that “racism is a crime" and has “no place in soccer anywhere.” It called Vinícius' decision to complain to the referee ”an example of courage and dignity. We are proud of you."

Mourinho, a former Madrid coach, was shown a red card in the 86th for complaining to the referee.

He said the he referee was not awarding yellow cards to the Madrid players as he should have, hinting that it was because they would miss the next game because of an accumulation of cards.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

A plastic bottle filled with water is thrown from the stands toward Real Madrid's Vinícius Júnior during a Champions League playoff soccer match between Benfica and Real Madrid in Lisbon, Portugal, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Pedro Rocha)

Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior celebrates with Real Madrid's head coach Álvaro Arbeloa the opening goal during a Champions League playoff soccer match between SL Benfica and Real Madrid in Lisbon, Portugal, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Pedro Rocha)

Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior celebrates with team mates the opening goal during a Champions League playoff soccer match between SL Benfica and Real Madrid in Lisbon, Portugal, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Pedro Rocha)

Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior argues with Benfica's head coach José Mourinho after scoring the opening goal during a Champions League playoff soccer match between SL Benfica and Real Madrid in Lisbon, Portugal, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Pedro Rocha)

The Champions League playoffs were overshadowed by claims of racism towards Real Madrid player Vinicius Junior in angry scenes after the Brazilian scored a brilliant winning goal against Benfica on Tuesday.

Play was halted when Vinicius claimed he had been racially insulted by an opponent during Madrid's 1-0 win.

“He’s been subjected to this a few times throughout his career and he’s handled it excellently. But for it to carry on and for it to happen tonight, it’s a disgrace to football,” Madrid defender Trent Alexander-Arnold told Amazon.

Paris Saint-Germain's title defense looked to be unraveling when 2-0 down in Monaco until Desire Doue came off the bench to inspire a 3-2 win.

Galatasaray beat Juventus 5-2 and Borussia Dortmund won 2-0 against Atalanta.

Vinicius had just whipped a wonderful goal into the top corner to give record 15-time champion Madrid the lead in the first leg of its playoff with Benfica at the Stadium of Light,

He and his teammates celebrated wildly, with the forward dancing in the corner.

What followed were ugly scenes that led to Vinicius informing referee Francois Letexier that a racist comment had been made. He appeared to point at Argentine player Gianluca Prestianni when complaining to the official, who crossed his arms to signal soccer's anti racism protocol.

Prestianni had earlier approached Vinicius while covering his mouth with his jersey.

Benfica coach Jose Mourinho, who also spoke to Vinicius, said his player denied the accusation of racism.

“They told me different things,” he said, adding that he wanted to be independent.

But in reference to previous occasions when Vinicius has been subjected to racist taunts, Mourinho said: “But there is something wrong because it happens in every stadium. ... The stadium where Vinicius played something happened. Always.”

Vinicius sat alone in the dugout before play resumed without any players being sent off as a result of his claims.

The defending champion is making hard work of its title defense.

Failure to advance directly to the round of 16 after the league phase of the competition left Luis Enrique's team having to negotiate an all-French playoff against Monaco. And despite PSG's dominance of the French league, it found itself 2-0 down after 18 minutes at Stade Louis-II.

United States forward Folarin Balogun headed Monaco in front inside a minute and then doubled the home team's lead.

After Vitinha failed to score from the penalty spot Luis Enrique sent for Doue in the 27th.

Within two minutes he'd pulled a goal back and when another of his efforts were saved shortly before halftime, Achraf Hakimi followed up with an equalizer.

Monaco was down to 10 men early in the second half when Aleksandr Golovin was sent off and Doue struck the winner with another clinical finish in the 67th.

“The way I played was not the most important (thing). The most important thing is the win. We did the job, so we are very happy. It is my job to help the team,” Doue said.

Galatasaray pushed Juventus to the brink of elimination in a wild comeback win in Istanbul.

Trailing 2-1 at halftime in the playoff match at RAMS Park, the Turkish giant powered back after the break. Noa Lang scored two of Galatasaray's four second-half goals to stun two-time European champion Juve.

Galatasaray takes a three-goal lead into the second leg in Turin next week with the chance to advance to the round of 16 for the first time since 2014.

Juventus responded well to going a goal down through Gabriel Sara after 15 minutes, with Teun Koopmeiners equalizing a minute later and adding another before halftime.

But Galatasaray took control in the second half half. Lang leveled four minutes after the restart, scoring from close range.

Davinson Sanchez gave the home team the lead on the hour and Juventus' challenge was made all the more difficult when Juan Cabal was sent off 22 minutes after coming on as a halftime substitute.

Lang got his second when capitalizing on sloppy play from Juventus' defense in its own box and Sacha Boey drove in from the angle in the 86th.

Dortmund is in control against Atalanta after goals from Serhou Guirassy and Maximilian Beier gave the Germans a 2-0 lead heading into next week's second leg in Italy.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior argues with Benfica's head coach José Mourinho after scoring the opening goal during a Champions League playoff soccer match between SL Benfica and Real Madrid in Lisbon, Portugal, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Pedro Rocha)

PSG's Desire Doue scores his side's opening goal during the first-leg of the Champions League playoff soccer match between Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain in Monaco, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Philippe Magoni)

Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior argues with referee François Letexier after scoring the opening goal during a Champions League playoff soccer match between SL Benfica and Real Madrid in Lisbon, Portugal, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Pedro Rocha)

PSG's Desire Doue, right, celebrates with PSG's Bradley Barcola after scoring his side's opening goal during the first-leg of the Champions League playoff soccer match between Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain in Monaco, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Philippe Magoni)

Juventus' head coach Igor Tudor instructs his players during a Champions league play-off first leg soccer match between Galatasaray and Juventus, in Istanbul, Turkey, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Juventus' Teun Koopmeiners, right, celebrates with teammates after scoring his side's first goal during a Champions league play-off first leg soccer match between Galatasaray and Juventus, in Istanbul, Turkey, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Galatasaray's Noa Lang celebrates after scoring his side's fourth goal during a Champions league play-off first leg soccer match between Galatasaray and Juventus, in Istanbul, Turkey, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Galatasaray's Noa Lang celebrates after scoring his side's fourth goal during a Champions league play-off first leg soccer match between Galatasaray and Juventus, in Istanbul, Turkey, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Galatasaray's Davinson Sanchez celebrates after scoring his side's third goal during a Champions league play-off first leg soccer match between Galatasaray and Juventus, in Istanbul, Turkey, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe reacts during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Valencia and Real Madrid in Valencia, Spain, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Macia)

Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior celebrates scoring his side's 2nd goal from the penalty spot during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Real Sociedad in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)