‘It bothers me Vinicius celebration used against him’Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Thibaut Courtois joined Real Madrid from Chelsea in 2018ByBobbie JacksonBBC Sport journalistPublished21 minutes agoReal 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 mentioned he believed the Brazilian forward had acted disrespectfully and incited the crowd.
“Unfortunately [he was] not just happy to score that astonishing goal. When you score a goal like that, you celebrate in a respectful way,” added Mourinho.
Asked about the comments from his former Chelsea manager, Courtois mentioned: “Mourinho is Mourinho and, as a coach, you’ll always defend your club.
“But it bothers me that Vinicius’ celebration is being used against him.
“Vini didn’t do anything bad. He celebrated the same way many rivals have celebrated against us.
“It happened, and we can’t justify a suspected act of racism because of a celebration. I think we have to be less stupid as a society.”
Mourinho, who is suspended for the second leg at the Bernabeu following his dismissal later in the match, mentioned he was told different things by Vinicius and Prestianni regarding the incident.
