Vinícius Jr and Racism in Lisbon, Galatasaray Shock Juventus, and Crystal Palace Staying Humble: European Nights 02/24/26

0:00Rory Smith:You're listening to the Men in Blazers media network, suboptimal radio. The opening round of the Champions League knockout overshadowed by the darkness of Vinicius Jr.'s racial abuse. Will players ever get the protection they need from football's administrators? You'd like to think so, and it's certainly about time they did, Rog. In other matters, how can Turkish clubs in the nation, gripped by the long-term economic recession, splurge these huge financial outlays, doubling their record transfer spend this season? By not thinking about long-term economic recession. Well, tell me Crystal Palace won't actually trip up against a Bosnian team, Mostar, with an annual operation budget of one single Jorgen Stran Larsson.

0:43Rory Smith:They'll be fine as long as they stay humble, Rog. Apparently. That's where we are, Roar. We don't care about tactics. It's about humility levels. it's European nights where we go deep on all this and more for the second leg of the round of 32 of the Champions League Europa League and of course our beloved Conference League let's go to the football want to give huge thanks to Bank of America official Bank of US Soccer and the FIFA World Cup 2026 for supporting the Men in Blazers media network discover what's possible in sports and in life what would you like the power to do

1:16Roger Bennett:for some football are you ready for

1:25Rory Smith:some football for football

1:33Roger Bennett:there's a suggestion that there have been some racist comments here and you can see what Vinicius Junior wants to happen here he wants everybody off the field Cristiani the Argentine who turned 20 just a couple of weeks ago has said from beneath his shirt an insult which is beyond the pale.

1:52Rory Smith:A dark day. The story of the round of 32 Champions League first leg with heavy hearts was not the football and to unpack it all I'm joined by football correspondent and my friend it's Mr Rory Smith. Rog how you doing? I am well. Football deeply unwell in this moment. Let's unpack it raw. last week in Lisbon. Benfica against Real Madrid. I mean, we were excited for this game. This was Mourinho. This was Real Madrid. The levels of storytelling we should be focusing on were deeply profound. Instead, this darkness. Shortly after the start of the second half, Vinicius Junior scored an absolutely astounding piece of individual skill, it should be said.

2:35Rory Smith:Sort of blistering brilliance that reminds you why we watch, why we feel connected, is where we feel alive when we watch football to witness and to gasp. Vinicius celebrated, danced by the corner flag, all hips sway and delight, for which he was, in the moment, quite inexplicably booked. And then, shocking scenes, teams lined up to resume play. Here's what we saw. Benfica midfielder Gianluca Prestiani, 20-year-old Argentine, pulled his shirt up over his mouth. Vinny very quickly became alarmed, rushed over to the referee, pointed wildly. The referee made an X with his arms. The signer indicates that racist abuse has been reported.

3:15Rory Smith:Game then delayed 10 minutes. Kylian Mbappe said in the mix zone afterwards that he heard Prestiani call Vinny a monkey five times, using the Spanish word mono. Prestiani denies this. I've got to say, no one paid much attention to what happened for the rest of the game. Won the win for Real Madrid or in any of the other games, to be candid. Madrid manager Alvaro Alboa called it unacceptable. Captain Valverde went with the word pathetic. Trent Alexander-Arnold, actually, I thought was fantastic in this moment, said it was a disgrace to the sport and in society. We'll get to what Benfica manager Jose Mourinho said post-game in one moment.

3:55Rory Smith:But very quickly, Roar, no one will remember the wonder goal, will they? It's been washed away from the collective memory, really by all the darkness that followed.

4:04Roger Bennett:Yeah, it's a tragedy in lots and lots and lots of ways. And one is, I suppose maybe that's the metaphor, isn't it? That Vinicius does this incredible thing, this wondrous piece of ingenuity and improvisation that showcases his skill and his kind of bravado and his ingenuity. and that is forgotten because somebody else allegedly, which we have to say, I don't know whether we have, you know, it doesn't always feel like the appropriate word to say, somebody else allegedly racially abuses him and that, there's a real sadness in the fact that the goal gets forgotten. I would, the other thing that's not been lost in it and it's, that's not meant to be a criticism because it is a, it's difficult to know where to start with something like this but if you watch the footage back, Prestiani is approaching Vinicius with his shirt over his mouth long before Vinicius appears to hear him.

4:51Roger Bennett:So it happens, the incident where Vinicius ends up reporting is on the halfway line as they're lining up for the kickoff after the goal. But just after Vinicius has been booked, as he's trotting back to the halfway line, Prestiani is kind of springing at him with his shirt over his mouth. So whatever he said to him, it was a sustained attempt to say it. And I think that we'd be doing everyone a great disservice if we didn't take Kylian Mbappe's incredibly eloquent kind of depiction of the event in the mid-zone immediately after the game, when he will still be feeling that really raw and furious emotion that he felt on the pitch, just as Vinicius did, just as Trent did, just as all of Real Madrid's players did, that he managed to kind of piece it together almost like a detective and say, look, this is what I heard.

5:42Roger Bennett:It was a perfect witness statement, effectively. this is what happened this is what I heard this is what he said I'm not going to say his name this is when it happened it was a really kind of forensic takedown of the event and there is a possibility that you know UEFA are investigating and it's a it's possible that because Prestiani had his mouth covered there's a you know you are reliant on what people said but I would have said that Mbappe's account of it was incredibly compelling and that you think should carry some

6:13Rory Smith:weight and incredibly harrowing um and even more harrowing was the reality that last tuesday was just the latest demoralizing incident in the frankly astonishing history of abuse that that vinnie um has suffered uh the first we know about october 24 2021 at the camp now um as vinnie walked around the field after being substituted out a fan called him um the same thing as was alleged in the benfica game six months later happened again in majorca Since then, a total of 26 times, 26, Vinny has received racist abuse in 10 different stadia, according to La Liga. It's incredible that they have to keep statistics on this issue to be candid.

6:55Rory Smith:By 2023, Vinny had decided to take a very different approach in response as he confronted a fan in Valencia who racially abused him in-game. Said, quote, it wasn't the first time or the second or the third. And several fans have consequently faced legal repercussions repercussions and in Brazil, they ultimately passed the Vinicius Junior law to push back on racism in sporting events. Vinny, as a result of all of this, also invests heavily in a charity in Brazil, which is focused on racial education for young people. All of this, quite clearly and quite understandably, wears on Vinny. forced to advocate for himself and for all people of colour.

7:39Rory Smith:In 2024, ahead of a friendly between Brazil and Spain, organised to raise awareness of racism in sport, he broke down in tears, saying, quote, I have less and less will to play. With each complaint made, I feel worse. Which is devastating to hear for a footballer who can bring such joy with his actions on the field. When you think about what he's saying there, it's a human darkness. And Chelsea boss Liam Rossini in the aftermath called it, quote, the worst feeling you can ever possibly imagine.

8:12Roger Bennett:I've been racially abused myself. I know people have been racially abused. And what people have to understand is when you are judged for something that you should be proud of, it is the worst feeling you can ever possibly imagine.

8:24Rory Smith:Roar, did we spend enough time thinking about the mental load all of this causes collectively, the way this weighs on the players and the managers?

8:34Roger Bennett:I think as two white men, it would be wrong for us to pretend we can know how that feels. But if you listen to what Vinicius has said, if you look at the sheer number of times he's had to face it, I would imagine, and that's all I can do, I would imagine that not only is it exhausting having to deal with it, not only is it infuriating and obviously hurtful and deeply upsetting to experience it in the moment, but also the dread of it the fact that he must be anticipating it happening and the fact that he must know that as much as Real Madrid obviously have always offered him support and they've been they've been really good in terms of like referring these incidents to the hate crimes department of the Spanish police they've they've done all they can to make this be treated as a crime which it is it should be treated as a crime the people who are committing these offenses are criminals they've not necessarily seen that support reflected in football's Spanish football's other institutions you know the Vinicius has had to argue with Javier Tebas the the president of La Liga who who seemed to sort of suggest that Vinicius was bringing it on himself in somewhere or maybe had kind of antagonized fans that other clubs haven't necessarily been helpful some have some have arrested fans that they've you know they've trawled through the footage that they've got inside their stadiums and they've arrested fans for doing it but also I think it's the fact that there's there's the people in the stadiums who are using the word mono there are people in the stadiums who are doing monkey gestures what about the people sitting next to them what are they doing that's that would be the other thing because you are in i know there's an anonymity in a crowd but if someone's sitting next to you and making that gesture at vinicius it's kind of incumbent on you whether you're white or black or whatever to to tell people that that's not right that that's very obviously that should offend you regardless of your color the fact that somebody if you see someone being racist in public you don't you don't really have the right just to sit there and do nothing about it so it wasn't me it's you know it's that guy over there that he's the problem i i find i think that that must be that knowledge must be incredibly kind of burdensome for vinicius knowing that he is fighting this fight and he comes out of out of it with a huge amount of credit his desire to kind of stand up to these people and he has the support of his teammates as we saw in lisbon and the support of his club as we've seen on you know on numerous occasions.

10:49Roger Bennett:But everybody else is kind of letting Vinicius down, to be honest.

10:53Rory Smith:Yeah, and from other clubs to the other club, Benfica, whose immediate reaction is to band around, Prestiani, none more than Jose Mourinho, really led the charge, the response. I mean, it almost felt like the political reality where you don't back down, you actually up the ante, up the attack. It was disgusting. Jose Mourinho essentially blamed Vinicius his fault celebrated too provocatively, which is incredible when you remember Jose Mourinho is the man who is known for his bravado, known for his charges down the sideline, known for his knee slides onto the field. Now he believes in calm, respectful celebration in key moments.

11:36Rory Smith:And he also said Benfica can't be racist. Stay with me here. Since their best ever player, their legend, Eusebio, the Portuguese legend, the Black Pearl was a black player, which is like saying I'm not racist. I've got a black friend. This is, I mean, abhorrent behaviour. It's the wrong side of history stuff, to be candid. Anti-discrimination group kicking out immediately called Jose Mourinho's comments, quote, a form of gaslighting. Rory, this moment will be woven into part of Mourinho's legacy, won't it?

12:06Roger Bennett:I think it will taint it. I think it will really kind of impact public perception of Mourinho. You know, Vincent Kompany, the Bayern Munich manager, gave a really kind of eloquent, very long, really analytical answer to a question that last week about the Vinicius incident, about Mourinho's response to it. I think the Benfica isn't racist thing is A, historically illiterate, because the way that Eusebio was used by Portugal's military regime at the time was very much rooted in racism. he was a cover for institutional racism, effectively, Eusebio. I think the politics of that are incredibly complicated.

12:43Roger Bennett:But also, Vinicius hadn't called Benfica racist. Vinicius had said, Gianluca Prestiani said something racist to me. He hadn't said, this whole club's full of racists. That wasn't the allegation. And I think the fact that Mourinho brought that up, that he took it that way in itself is a problem because it kind of showcases that football's instinct is always to band around the institution. And look, tribalism and that loyalty and that passion is kind of what makes football so colourful and so kind of enjoyable and so compelling. But at the same time, you have to know when to park it. And clubs historically have really struggled to know when to say, we need to address this outside of kind of the club bubble.

13:24Roger Bennett:Liverpool struggled with it with Luis Suarez when the incident with him and Patrice Ever happened 12, 13 years ago. they were unable to think of it as like a normal HR issue there was this instinct to band around the player the star player and present him as the victim of some sort of conspiracy Benfica have done exactly the same thing totally ignorant of the idea that you have to let an investigation conclude, not even conclude, start to be honest they've decided on Prestiani's innocence and they have put themselves out front and centre and Mourinho that was his reaction and I think what was so disappointing on the evening was that when when it originally happened Mourinho seemed to go to Vinicius obviously they both speak Portuguese and seemed to be talking to him and it looked like Mourinho was actually kind of being a statesman that he was saying something bad has happened I will go and speak to Vinicius and see what the situation is see whether we can persuade him you know to be comfortable enough to to go back on the field and I think during the game you kind of looked at it and thought Mourinho had handled himself relatively well in that situation.

14:31Roger Bennett:But what he said afterwards totally undercut that.

14:35Rory Smith:Yeah, that move, the Suarez move in Liverpool, this move with Benfica, it's almost to embrace victimhood and to nullify the victim with your own victimhood-ness. And it puts Vinny in just the most challenging of positions. He's almost fighting on two fronts consistently. By the way, as well as trying to play football as an elite footballer with the natural pressure of the crucible of Real Madrid, but he's fighting it's a racist, who abuse him regularly. Also with the football apparatus that shifts honestly on this issue at a glacial pace and does too little to protect the players, leaves them hanging out there for repeat punishment, which puts it in danger of this almost being seen as this is just what football is.

15:17Rory Smith:It is not what football is. It's not what football can be. And this most recent example led Vinny to post on Instagram, quote, racists are above all cowards. They need to put their shirts in their mouths to show how weak they are, but they have the protection of others who theoretically have an obligation to punish them. I mean, it's harrowing to read that out. But in this case, the referee didn't hear the comment. He did instigate the racism protocol. He made that X with his arms. He halted the match. I mean, this is three-pronged. The game can now be suspended or abandoned. There can be and there will be, apparently, a UEFA investigation.

15:56Rory Smith:Presiani is provisionally suspended for the return leg. Well, that happens. Some in the game have recommended punishment for those who cover their mouths in heated exchanges. Mbappe said that a player like this shouldn't be allowed in the Champions League. Rossini went further, suggested banning them from football. Is the UAE for anti-racism protocol working as intended? Can you make the case after what we all experienced last week? And secondly, what would you like to see added to these situations so that we can eliminate them from football?

16:28Roger Bennett:So the first part of the answer to that to me, and it may not be popular, Rog, but I do think we should appreciate that in this case, it's difficult for UEFA because, look, it looks fairly obvious what was happening. Kylian Mbappe's account is really compelling. Vinicius' account is really compelling. We should believe the victims, obviously. But at the same time, Presti on his defence seems to have been that he said something else which is also offensive and is also discriminatory that appears to be his kind of argument which is not a great argument if i'm honest so i think if you're holding yourself to like a criminal standard the simple act of covering your mouth does make it difficult for them to say well look we're going to ban you for a year that is really hard for your way for to do um but at the same time i i genuinely believe and i you know i think what mbappe said is is absolutely right it does feel to me like the way you kind of have to police this has to change, that it's not enough to be like when you've got, I can't remember what Suarez got, like a seven or an eight game ban I think it feels like that's not enough there has to be sufficient of a punishment and that might be, yeah outright ban from the Champions League, it might be ban for a year, it might be ban for life there has to be a way of sending a message saying this is not acceptable on a football pitch and unfortunately you probably have to understand that some players will get away with it in some way because you can't prove it to a standard of beyond doubt that makes you comfortable with issuing that punishment, but that punishment has to exist.

18:00Roger Bennett:The other thing is in terms of stadiums, I think if there is the amount of camera footage of stadiums, especially in the Champions League and the Europa League now, they are capable of capturing basically everybody in the stadium on camera at all times. I think if I'm honest, it strikes me as fairly obvious that if someone in your stadium does does a monkey gesture or you know a racist gesture i think that stadium has to be shut and you shouldn't play football there for quite a long time to be perfectly honest i think uefi should say we're not we're not happy you know you you are not going you're benfica you're not going to be playing your home games at the estadio deluz you will still be in the competition but certainly there shouldn't be games there does the fans have to be punished as well because as i say it's i realize that it goes against the the is it's quite an important tenet in i think european law but also in kind of fan culture that individual crimes don't mean collective punishments but i think in this case if there's a guy doing a monkey a monkey gesture maybe it's not unreasonable to expect the fans around them to say don't you dare do that vinnie jr has a tattoo this is also hard

19:00Rory Smith:to believe he has a tattoo that reads as long as the color of your skin is more important than the brightness of your eyes there'll be war um i think we'll say his eyes i hope they continue to burn bright in the darkness. Kylian Mbappe posted, baila, which means dance, baila, Vinnie Jr. And please never stop. All I can say is to echo that. Please never stop. And please God, there'll be more dancing Wednesday, 3 p.m. Eastern for the return leg. We'll be back after the break.

19:37I'll see men for a chance here

19:40Rory Smith:for another, which they've got rammed home by such a boy rejoining a club he had some great times out previously and his first Galatasaray goal in just over two years might have ended this time That dear listener, is the sound of true Turkish delight with less rose water and more pyrotechnic flares as Galatasaray slotted home the fifth and final goal against nearly fallen Italian giant Juventus in last Tuesday's round of 32, first leg. Quite an incredibly shocking blowout. 5-2 victory for the Turks, which, barring catastrophe, has all but given them a ticket to the Champions League round of 16.

20:20Rory Smith:The final goal, assisted by the man in a polycarbonate mask, Mr. Victor Osserman. Last time we checked in with Big Vic, formerly of Napoli, which is two or three years ago. He's perhaps the most highly sought-after striker in the world. Speculation, he'd eventually go to a massive club for over$100 million. But in September 2023, Napoli, yes, his own club inexplicably posted a video on their official social media accounts mocking him for missing a penalty against Bologna. Of the incident, Osserman recently said, quote, anyone can miss a penalty and anyone can be mocked for it. Napoli did it only to me.

20:54Rory Smith:I was a victim of racist insults and I made my decision. I wanted to leave. They treated me like a dog. A standoff ensued between player and club. the following summer with transfer windows around the continent slamming shut with no sale which was astonishing until he last ditched loan to Galatasaray saved him from sitting out of football for six months. It was honestly a quite disorienting story which was sad and surreal in equal measure but Roar something surprising happened this past summer at the end of his loan spell Osman agreed to a full sale to Galatasaray despite the opportunity to once again give his services to teams considered more superpowers within Europe.

21:37Rory Smith:Catch us up. How has Osman been performing at Galatasaray and why did he choose to stay in Turkey

21:43Roger Bennett:instead of going to a European powerhouse? Well, I can't pretend to know the insides of Itr Osman's mind, but he's basically been pretty good, Rog. He stood an awful lot of goals last season, almost at the rate of one a game across Turkish domestic football and Europe. And it's similar this season, to be honest. So he's on, I think, 15 so far this season in 23 games, maybe not quite at the same clip. He looks, when he plays for Galatasaray, like Galatasaray's best player. He looks, when he plays in the Turkish Super League, like the best player in Turkey, because he is. He is, I mean, you maybe have to kind of allow a little nod to his teammate Leroy Sane, but these are players of huge international quality who you would expect to be maybe competing for Premier Leeds or La Liga titles or Champions League trophies.

22:25Roger Bennett:They're of that quality. They are genuinely world-class footballers playing for a team that has a lot of quality, but maybe not quite of that level. why he stayed I think Galatasaray kind of offers him everything he needs he's the star which I think Osserman likes the team is built to his strengths which again he likes and with good reason but also they're in the Champions League and I'm not sure to a player like Osserman there's a huge amount of difference between playing for Napoli or Atletico Madrid or Borussia Dortmund where you're playing in the Bundesliga La Liga or Serie A and playing in the Turkish Super League as long as you're in the Champions League as long as you're in a team that is able to get wins and progress in the Champions League, then that's all that matters.

23:09Roger Bennett:The fact that he's on a handsome salary at Galatasaray probably doesn't hurt matters. But he is, I think, from his point of view, he's probably achieving all of his sporting ambitions. He's in the Champions League, he's playing for his country. He maybe gets a little bit of a lighter workload domestically, so he doesn't have to hit the Champions League quite so fatigued. It might be that the arrangement at Galatasaray works for him, and into the mix he gets the adulation of one of Europe's and the most passionate fan bases as well. It's not an unattractive offer.

23:35Rory Smith:That sale of Osman to Galatasaray, we should mention it's for over$85 million. Most expensive signing, both Galatasaray Club and also Turkish Super League history. Really a cannonball off the high dive in the summer of splashy spending for Turkish football. There was the club record spend on Osman. Gala also dropped around$180 million total to secure the three most expensive signings in Super League history. That's not to mention the massive salaries of players like Leroy Sané, who also joined the squad this summer on a free from Bayern Munich and who commands reportedly a cool$40 million annually.