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'It bothers me that Vinicius' celebration is being used against him'

BBC News·@Bbc·2 months ago
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Real Madrid hold a 1-0 first-leg lead over Benfica as they seek to qualify for the Champions League's last 16 Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois says Vinicius Jr's celebration against Benfica in last week's Champions League tie in Portugal "does not justify a suspected act of racism". Vinicius alleged he was racially abused by Benfica's Gianluca Prestianni shortly after scoring a stunning goal that earned the Spanish side a 1-0 win in the knockout round first-leg encounter. Argentine winger Prestianni denied racially abusing Vinicius but has been handed a one-game provisional ban by Uefa and will miss Wednesday's return in Madrid. Vinicius was shown a yellow card for celebrating in front of the Benfica supporters after his strike. Speaking after the game, Benfica boss Jose Mourinho said he believed the Brazilian forward had acted disrespectfully and incited the crowd. "Unfortunately [he was] not just happy to score that astonishing goal.…

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