Real pays tribute to Vinícius, Atlético gives away 3-0 lead

Real Madrid made a show of support for Vinícius Júnior before the start of the league match at home against Rayo Vallecano. The Royal recorded a difficult 2-1 win and took over second place from Atlético Madrid, which failed to win against Espanyol despite a 3-0 lead.

When Real’s players entered the field shortly before kickoff, they all wore shirts with the back number of the striker who was again racist earlier this week.

The much-discussed Vinícius was missing from the squad due to a knee injury. On Tuesday, the red card the Brazilian striker received against Vallecano was still waived because he had been a victim of racism.

A large banner hung in the Bernabéu stadium tonight with the message “We are all Vinícius, it’s enough now.

The players of Real Madrid and Rayo Vallecano displayed a large banner before kickoff saying that racists do not belong in soccer. The same message was also seen at Spanish matches on Tuesday.

Rodrygo scored the winning goal for Real in the 89th minute. He cheered by raising his fist in the air, the Black Lives Matter gesture.

On Sunday night, Vinícius was called a monkey by part of Valencia’s supporters for a long time. After no action was taken against this by the referee and the authorities, the frustrated Vinícius himself was sent off the pitch in the closing stages after a riot.

It was not the first time the 22-year-old striker became a victim of racism in Spain. Much controversy arose over the incident and Valencia received a hefty penalty from La Liga. The stand where the hard core sits must remain empty for five matches and Valencia was fined 45,000 euros.

Valencia calls that punishment “unfair and disproportionate.” The club considers it unjust that the punishment was imposed without being able to defend itself. “We fully cooperate with the police and condemn what happened in our stadium,” the club reported.

Police could so far arrest three Valencia supporters accused of racism.

Real Madrid took second place from city rival Atlético, which drew 3-3 against Espanyol. Atlético, without the injured Memphis Depay, squandered a 3-0 lead.

After an hour of play, there seemed nothing wrong for Atlético, which held a wide lead thanks to goals by Saul ñiguez, Antoine Griezmann and Yannick Carrasco. Within fifteen minutes, relegation candidate Espanyol scored three goals.

The Barcelona club then missed several more good chances for the winning goal.