Barcelona defender supports Real Madrid forward in racism row

Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior suffered racial abuse during Real Madrid’s 1-0 loss at Valencia on Sunday night. 

The visitors were a goal down when the forward was targeted with racist comments from rival fans at the Mestalla Stadium. 

The game was stopped for several minutes after the Brazilian brought the referee’s attention to the abuse.

The game restarted but Vinicius was shown a red card for slapping Hugo Duro’s face. 

He later posted a strong statement on social media, saying ‘racism is normal in La Liga‘. 

Plenty of people have expressed support for the 22-year-old since the incident, including Paris Saint-Germain star Kylian Mbappe and Brazilian President Lula da Silva. 

Barcelona defender Jules Kounde also issued a strong message on Twitter saying that ‘discriminatory insults should not be tolerated or justified’

Vinicius Junior has been one of the most important players for Madrid this season. 

In 32 La Liga appearances, he has bagged ten goals and nine assists.

The Brazilian has averaged 2.4 shots, 2.0 key passes and 3.4 dribbles per game in the Spanish top flight, while boasting over 80 percent passing accuracy.  

He also started 11 Champions League matches this campaign with 12 goal contributions to his name. 

Vinicius has been excellent for Los Blancos since arriving in Madrid from Flamengo in 2017. 

Since making his debut at Real in September 2018, he made over 120 goal contributions in 224 appearances.