Vini Jr. Reports Racist Abuse in Benfica Win

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0:34Welcome in to the latest edition of ESPN FC. I'm Dan Thomas, joined by Ali Moreno and Stevie Nicker. We'll kick things off in the Champions League. Four matches today will start in Portugal. Benfica taking on Real Madrid. So much drama, of course, when these two teams met in the group stages. This time it will be Real Madrid who would be leaving Portugal with the victory. A 1-0 win against Jose Mourinho's team. A brilliant goal from Vinicius Junior. would hand the Spanish side the lead going into that second leg in the Spanish capital. But unfortunately, overshadowing that brilliant goal is what happened afterwards.

1:09Vinicius Jr. went to the corner to celebrate. Apparently, it was too much celebrating as he would get booked. There would be then a melee that would follow. And within that melee, there's suggestions that Presiani said something racist towards Vinicius Jr. He told the referee. The referee then initiated racism protocol. The game was stopped for over eight minutes. During that time, audio was checked to see whether or not Vinicius Jr.'s accusations could be substantiated. They couldn't, so the game would then continue. Real Madrid win by one goal to nil. We'll talk, obviously, about the game in a moment.

1:49It would be a miss of us not to start with the alleged racist incident in that second half. This is what Chirmeni had to say about it. this can't happen. Vinny told us the guy called him a monkey with his shirt covering his face. He said he didn't see anything. Vinny told us we had to keep playing. I don't know what to say now. We'll talk, but this can't happen. I said that if there's a problem, we leave as a team. That's it. But we talked and we said we had to win. Obviously, as we're going live now, there's a lot more post-match reaction coming. We'll be hearing from Jose Mourinho. I'll let you know exactly what he had to say and anyone else from each camp.

2:28But as we stand at the moment, Frank has welcomed Frank Leboeuf into the show. Obviously, it's such a brilliant goal for Vinicius Jr. And it's so disappointing that this is what we start the show with. Yeah, it's very sad because, as you said, the goal is absolutely fantastic. And we don't know why he got a yellow card. I don't think it's because he danced around the corner flag and maybe something happened with the fans, blah, blah, blah, but whatever. But I don't think that Vinny is that twisted that suddenly, after scoring a goal, you know, decides to make up some stories. So we don't have the evidence, and the referee did what he had to do, therefore stop the game, investigate, and keep on playing because he had nothing.

3:19He had no evidence. The player put his shirt when he said something to Vinny, so there's nothing to complain about that. But we're pretty sure that something has been said and that Vinny reacted to some abuse, I'm pretty sure. Again, no evidence, so we won't say anything and the game has to go on. And as Tramini said, they had to come back and they had to play and win that game and that's it. Very disappointed by the fans, by the way, because to boo Vinny was a real shame because Vinny didn't do anything bad. So we've heard from Can you just remind me what Jose Mourinho has said I just missed that What Vinny said And what Presiani said Are two different things That's what Jose Mourinho has come out Well and I imagine that Of course Jose Mourinho is going to defend his player And you would expect that to be the case And it's not like Presiani is going to go to Jose Mourinho And say See Jose what I told Vinny was this And he misunderstood what I said look, we don't have proof.

4:26We don't have evidence. We don't have the smoking gun and we don't have the video nor the audio. But it is more likely than not that Prestiani said something to Vinnie that he should not have said. Because as we focus on Prestiani and the look in his eyes, when Vinnie says, I heard what Prestiani has said. And the reaction of Vinnie, the look in Prestiani's eyes is of a man who said, oh. This could be troublesome. Now, it's merely observation. It's merely speculation. But to Frank's point, so often we focus on Vinnie Jr. for the wrong reasons. And so often he is in the middle of things because he chooses to be in the middle of things.

5:10And he is the culprit of problems. Today is not that day. Today that's not the case. And for those out there that may say, well, he had it coming because he went and celebrated the goal in the manner in which he did, you are 100 % wrong. Vinny Jr. scores a great goal, and he is well within his rights to go and celebrate with a corner flag. And I don't want to hear it that this is sort of a new age of how people celebrate and it's inappropriate. No, no, no. In 1990, in the World Cup, Roy Armilla from Cameroon was celebrating the same way. This was more than 30 years ago. Okay, so if we're going to ask players to express themselves and enjoy the game and enjoy a goal, a great goal as he just scored, he's well within his rights to go and celebrate.

5:57And if you're a Benfica player and you are upset about it, you know what you can do? Stop him from scoring. That's the best way that you can do it. Now, the referee doesn't help the situation either. He, in dealing with Vinny at the time, in bringing the yellow car and not being able to control the back and forth, then allows Prestiani to come into the picture and then Prestiani said what he said. Again, I don't have the proof, but if you are to push me one way or another, I would suggest that Prestiani more likely than not is guilty of saying what Vinny said. Jose Mourinho has come out and said that he told Vinny, when you score a great goal, don't go and rile up the fans.

6:38Let me just tell you, and can I just tell you, players in that moment, in that scenario, never express themselves like that. Do you think that that's the sort of conversation that you would be covering your mouth? If that's exactly what you were saying, would you need to cover your mouth? You shouldn't express yourself this way and you shouldn't celebrate this way. No, no, no. Players don't talk like that. And so there would have been choice words. There would have been a reminder of somebody's family. There would have been a whole lot of things being said, but then there is a line. Right. And obviously, according to Vinny Jr., Prestiani crossed that line.

7:22I have to say, you know, I particularly have sat here this season and talked about how disappointed I've been and the way Vinny's conducted himself with the Alonso thing and all these other things that he's been getting up to. But you have to say, his maturity in this situation tonight has to be applauded. You know, the Vinny that we saw running off in the Barcelona game and throwing his baby sucker at the pram and all the carry-on, today he went about this exactly the way he should. He told the referee, he went and sat down, He wasn't running around fighting with people. He went and sat down.

8:06He calmed himself down. They got going again. He was the one that said, we need to play this and we need to win. And then he went back on the field and played as though nothing had happened, but just played his normal game. That's not the mature of any that we've seen so far this season. So he has to be applauded for that. I just want to amend something. It was Mourinho who told Vinicius Junior, when you score a great goal, don't go rile up the fans. This is what he said apparently when he went over and sat on the bench that we saw during that eight-minute break. Was there any, am I being naive here, was there any way Mitch Mourinho could have stepped in and taken Prestiani off?

8:46Well, but then at that point you're admitting guilt. Right. And you're no longer protecting your player. If Jose Mourinho wholeheartedly believes that Prestiani is innocent in this, no, you don't take him out. you leave him out there because, oh, by the way, he's an important player for you offensively, and you need him to make a difference for you, potentially scoring a game-tying goal or creating an opportunity. So you don't admit guilt by taking him out and say, well, he must have said something so you come off the field. You believe what your players told you. This is about Prestiana. It's not about Jose Mourinho.

9:21And it becomes a story about Jose Mourinho when he gets himself thrown out of the game because he's won in a second yellow card for Vinny. But as it pertains to this specific circumstance. If the player tells you that he hasn't said anything, you believe your player, right? As a manager, you have to believe your own players first and foremost, and you have to protect your own players first and foremost. Go on, Frank. You know, while I'm thinking about what happened, you know, when you go back to the dressing room and you're a black player from Benfica and you have to talk to Pristiani, That can be very tricky because, you know, if I'm a black guy and I talk to Pristiani and I would say, I want to know what happened.

10:10Why did you say something to him? And what did you say something to him? Why do you have to cover your mouth? Because if you had to cover your mouth, because you were saying something nasty, to say the least. And I want to know if you really say that, because have you seen the color of my skin? You are insulting all the people from there. So it's a big time. I don't know what Prostiani really said because we won't have the evidence. And I think he will deny for the rest of his life because that's such a big word. He will deny it. But again, I don't think Vinny is bipolar. I don't think after scoring a goal, you can get crazy and find another way to celebrate your goal and get crazy.

10:51No, Vinny heard what he heard. And I want to believe what he heard because he won't get that crazy after scoring a goal. It's impossible. And because the guys cover his face, we all figure that he wasn't very nice. So I feel very awkward today. I think about all the Presbyterian teammates as well. We are black. And that's appalling. If it really happened, that's appalling. And it could go further. and Jose Mourinho will have to clear that to make sure the dressing room stays OK. Because that can be... That can be damages. I find it funny. If there's one manager that shouldn't be telling anybody about riling up a crowd, it's him.

11:37I mean, sliding down the touchline the whole traffic. Running around with his finger at Barcelona. I mean, if there's one person who's a complete hypocrite telling somebody else not to rile the crowd up, is Mourinho. I want to make sure that we really hammer the point home of not victim blaming here. It's easy because of who Vinny is and has been as a player to say well he had it coming. And I want to make sure that people don't go down that path. Because whatever you may think of Vinny before today has nothing to do with him scoring a great goal, celebrating and then a minute later being told what apparently he was told by Prestiani.

12:22One thing is not connected to the other. The past of Vinny Jr. is not connected to the behavior today of Prestiani, and Prestiani should be the one that should be the focus, not Vinny. Vinny becomes the focus because of what Prestiani said and what the action, allegedly, what he said and what his actions were following the brilliance of Vinny Jr., which gets overlooked. Look, the brilliance of Vinny Jr. in the end somehow starts this thing up. But it's about Prestiani and an amazingly ignorant behavior that still happens, allegedly, in 2026. That we're still having these conversations. And that is deplorable.

13:06That is the thing that we should focus on. Vinny, I think I just saw on Instagram, if it's true, it's just put out a picture saying, see you at the Bernabeu. OK. Which I suppose is where Vinny will be looking to do is talking in that second leg, where Real Madrid, of course, will have a huge advantage, Steve. They were the much better side today. Yeah, they were. And of all the days, and we've been talking about Mbappe being the guy who's been carrying this team all season with his goals. My goodness, how he hasn't, how he's not going home with the ball with a hat-trick is beyond me. Ali said it in the first opportunity.

13:39You know, why he's not going with that ball with his left foot? It's just, it makes no sense. The fact that he's trying to do it with the outside of his right foot means he's going with the smallest surface area. Because you don't always have to hit it perfectly, but you've got to make contact with it. And then the worst one for me, actually, is the last one. He has done everything. He's cut inside. He's gone past three defenders. He's in the middle of the goal. All he's got to do is pick his spot, and he hits the goalkeeper. So for a guy that we've been praising to high heaven all season is the guy who could have killed this tie.

14:10Never mind having to go back there with just a one goal lead. But in the end, they didn't need Mbappe on top form because obviously Vinny gets the goal, Frank, and thoroughly deserved advantage they'll take to the Bernabeu. Real Madrid were good today. Very good, very good, very solid. I also loved Chouamini in the middle of the park, you know, working hard. Nothing to complain about the defence. Courtois made a great save also in the first half. Everybody was spot on. but Mbappé. But, you know, sometimes it happens. We're going to talk about Desiree Duet with Paris Saint-Germain, who was absolutely tremendous today.

14:47Sometimes it's your day and sometimes it's not. And Mbappé wasn't. You know, yeah, he should have tackled and put the left foot. On the second chance, he should have put the right foot and he put the left one. Everything was the other way around. And maybe it's for the best. Maybe today was off because he's been so successful, scoring so many goals that it can happen. And then you go back and start a new era. And it's what I want to wish him because it was good. In terms of playing, being involved, that was a good game from Mbappe. But it's true that the finishing wasn't there. A couple of things that made Real Madrid really good today.

15:24And you notice it with players that are coming back from injury. with Trent playing as a right back, you have a natural outlet down the right-hand side. And the quality of services that are coming from the right-hand side, one of those was the one that Kylian Mbappe should have scored with his left foot. Quality of passing, playing out of the back with Trent Alexander-Arnold is noticeable as well. And because Benfica didn't have a lot of the ball, then you don't really expose him defensively. Real Madrid also, with the presence of Trent Alexander-Arnold, free of Fede Valverde to join in the midfield.

15:58and that makes such a big difference for what Chua Menni now can do and Camavinga can do because it's now three players who have the legs to cover the space. And so Chua Menni looks a whole lot better because he's not covering 40 yards, he's covering 20 yards. And you've got 20 yards here for Valverde, and you've got 20 yards here for Camavinga, and the spacing of Real Madrid in the midfield, so much better. We talk about the structure of Real Madrid being a problem. Today, that wasn't the case. So having a natural right back, having a natural midfielder playing his position, covering the ground that needs to cover, and once they have possession of the ball and they find Alexander on the right-hand side, if I'm a striker for this team, I'm making runs inside the 18-yard box because I know the delivery is coming.

16:41Real Madrid, to your point, looked very good, professional, organized, well-structured. That hasn't been the case over the course of the season. It was today. Let's not forget, this is a Real Madrid side that sits top of La Liga as well. Of course, after the result yesterday between Barcelona and Girona. Girona with that 2-1 victory. What are we going for here, Ali? Exasperating. That's exactly what Barcelona were. And of course, they were exasperated not only with themselves, but with the officials. This is what Rafinha put on Instagram. We have a lot to improve on, but not just us. It's very complicated when the rules are different, whether it's you or against you.

17:20But if we have to play against everyone to win, it's OK. We're going to do it. This was, of course, in reference to what happened at the end of the game, where Koundé looked like he'd been fouled. The referee didn't give it. Obviously, Girona go on and score the winner. VAR would check it and not cancel out the goal. Since we've heard from the Spanish Federation, who have said this was a mistake, it should have been a foul. The referees have been demoted. VAR have been suspended. So, overall, Barcelona feel cheated by this. Does it help anyone? No, Frank, Rafinha coming out and saying this, or is he justified considering everyone has admitted they were wrong?

18:03Well, for me, it's unbearable. You know, I'm fed up with every action that we see and that the players have to come out after to express, you know, what they felt and what we clearly see. I mean, it's clear. You have the replay. You have the chance to have the VAR that we didn't have in our time. so the ref can go and see. It's so important. Every game are important. Points are important. You have so much pressure every game. And sometimes you give your best and you are punished because of something that doesn't go with the game, that doesn't go with the thing you have to accept. Rafinha was right to say that, to say what he said.

18:44You know, he has to fight against too many things. What he's saying is that everyone is against Barcelona. Can't be seen. And I think if we go across all 20 teams, every single one of them in La Liga, you'll be able to show. No, no, it's not. No, I'm sorry. Sorry, I didn't understand the question. I'm not saying that. I'm saying just that in that case, Rafinha was right to say that there was a foul. Of course, it goes on your side one game. It goes to the other side the other game. So it's not against Barcelona. Real Madrid are doing the same, complaining about everything, you know, and that's everybody's game.

19:21We have the thing in France with Marseille. Marseille is complaining about everything and it's always against them. So we have teams like that. But no, it's against everybody. But those kind of mistakes should have been resolved so easily because of the technology that you have nowadays. That's what I'm saying. Sorry. Does this mentality help players or teams that are in the back-to-back run that Barcelona have? It doesn't help. I don't think. I don't see what helps anybody. I don't see how it helps anybody. You know, the last thing you need is your dressing room going around going, oh, it's not fair, it wasn't our fault.

19:58No, listen, Hansi Fleck should have said, you know what, sometimes decisions go for you and sometimes decisions go against you. And he should have said, you know what, that's not the reason we lost the game. We were poor tonight, we deserved to lose the game. Which he did say in fair after the game. Right, we move on. And I don't want to hear anybody in the papers moaning about referees and all the rest of it. So, yeah, that roughing is totally out of line there. Right. It's interesting, like, yesterday's show, Ali, like, we talked about it, but we didn't... It wasn't, like, a massive deal for us because of the way in which the game was played.

20:31Because Barcelona didn't have 100 chances or unlucky. They played badly. They deserved to lose. And we all admit, yeah, there was a foul. It should have been chalked off. But it's strange with that narrative change slightly, isn't it? Where a team deserves to lose, and therefore the decision does affect the points, but not necessarily what should have happened. Does that make sense? I understand what you're saying, Dan. It's just that Barcelona's performance yesterday did not earn a defense. Did not earn a defense team to be put together and stand up in front of a judge and actually make arguments for Barcelona.

21:05They didn't earn that right. And so if it wasn't that goal, I guess the game ends 1-1. Some people would suggest that. But if you watch the balance of the match, Had it not been that goal, it would have been another goal. Because Joan Garcia is having to make a save here and a save there and a save everywhere. And had Girona been a little bit better in front of goal, this would not have been all that close. And so the performance overall of Barcelona is what they need to focus on. And I think Rafinha, in his Instagram post, he was going in that direction. He did say to begin with, we have a lot to improve on.

21:37But you can't help yourself as a player. Because as a player, you think that everything goes against you all the time. You feel like the world is against you. And for some players, I know it may not make sense for a lot of people, but for some players, that actually is the way that they find motivation. That they find some sort of inner strength. It's easier to blame that guy and that person and that referee than actually look within and actually find responsibility within yourself individually and within yourself as a group. The truly successful teams, the truly elite teams, acknowledge the fact that, yeah, we were terrible, but it's not going to happen again.

22:23The concerning part for Barcelona is that this was a continuation of what happened against Atletico Madrid and Copa del Rey. That's the part that should trouble Barcelona fans, that there should have been a reaction, and there wasn't. We saw more of the same against Girona, and then you lose the match and you expect that somebody's going to come and say, well, it should have been a foul. Maybe it should have been a foul, but you also should have lost the game. On the balance of the match, the right team won the game. Do you want to tie a bow on it, Stevie? Take responsibility. Yeah? Oh, yes. That's all it has.

22:56Good lesson for life as well, children. Yes, yes, yes. Real Madrid and Barcelona, of course, back in action this weekend. Real Madrid have the chance to extend their lead on Barca at the top of the table. Kick-off is at 12pm for us in that game and then on Sunday, Barca against Levante, 9.45 Eastern on ESPN+.

23:19What a game it turned out to be between Monaco and PSG. Monaco were 2-0 up within the opening 18 minutes. You have since international Florian Balogun getting both of those goals. Osman Dembele would then be taken off because of an injury. The Ballon d 'Or winner then would make way for Due and Due completely took over. He was fantastic throughout this tie. He would make it 2-1 pretty much with his first touch of the game. Hakimi then would make it 2-2 just before the break, and it would be Douai once again that would find the back of the net in the second half to give PSG a 3-2 lead going in to the Paris capital.

23:52Capital, French capital. Obviously keeping an eye on this, our very own Frenchman, Frank Leboeuf. Frank, very entertaining tie. It was, it was, and very surprising beginning of the game, you know, with a very early goal from Balagoon. But it was crazy because at 2-0, Monaco had two chances to score. They did. And they were having like 14 % of position of the ball. So they were almost not touching the ball. That's crazy. But you could have felt that Paris Saint-Germain would come back and do the job and that they were more superior than Monaco. But it happened because Dembele got injured then Dewey is upset because he's not playing right now.

24:38So he went on the field, he came on the field and proved to Riz Enrique that he was right, Riz Enrique, to put him on the bench to see that reaction. So well done, Riz Enrique. Sadly, Dembele is again injured and have a calf problem. So I don't know how long it's going to take for him to come back. But well done, Desiree Dewey. He showed, especially the first goal. I mean, there was, as Ali said, a very tight angle. He was very precise and he had three shots and he scored two goals and Hakimi scored the second goal when Douai shot. So that was a perfect day for Desiree Douai and I have to say it's only a fair result for Paris Saint-Germain.

25:22Why wasn't Douai starting, Frank? What's the story there? Well, supposedly Luis Enrique wasn't very happy with the way that he was performing. maybe he was getting a little bit sloppy and well he has the choice of a king as we say you know at front Bacola has been pretty good even if he didn't score for like a year in the Champions League but he's always a danger Dembélé you know the Ballon d 'Or where do you want to put him you have to put him on the field Gvash Kelly of course he's very good and Dwey was the fourth one and wasn't proving enough to Riz Henrique that he deserved to start But today he showed the reaction as a professional player and I think Luis Enrique will be very happy with his behaviour but also with his own decision to put him on the bench to see that reaction.