Vinicius celebration row: Madrid pundits back the Brazilian but Benfica's response slammed
Spanish football pundits dissect the Vinicius celebration controversy from Benfica vs Real Madrid, with Benfica's reaction drawing heavy criticism.
The fallout from Real Madrid’s trip to Lisbon is still very much doing the rounds in Spain, with Radio MARCA’s Friday panel — La Tribu — spending a good chunk of their show picking apart the Vinicius situation, Benfica’s response, and whether justice can even do anything about it.
The celebration itself? Absolutely fine, apparently
The consensus among most of the panel was pretty straightforward: Vinicius scored a worldie, went to the corner flag, and had a little dance. End of. As one panellist put it, he went to the corner and danced because he scored a great goal — what else is he supposed to do? Six lighters and six bottles were apparently thrown at him during the celebration, which rather puts the “was he winding them up?” debate into perspective.
The one dissenting voice was worth noting — one pundit made clear he’s never been a fan of the dancing celebrations, arguing that when a match is already at boiling point, it doesn’t help matters. He drew a comparison to Neymar doing similar things in his day, which he said he criticised at the time too. Respectable take, even if the majority weren’t having it.
Benfica’s response: an own goal of the highest order
This is where things got spicy. The panel were pretty scathing about how Benfica handled the aftermath:
- Benfica apparently posted a tweet trying to suggest no racist abuse could be heard — the panel called this a clear mistake
- Their attempt to deny the Rui Costa incident and instead shift focus onto Valverde was seen as a deliberate attempt to muddy the waters
- One panellist was particularly blunt: if Benfica want to defend themselves, fair enough, but not like that
- The core issue — whether Prestianni called Vinicius a monkey — is entirely separate from anything Valverde did, and conflating the two helps nobody
Can justice actually sort this out?
This is the trickiest bit, and one of the panel was refreshingly honest about it. The debate, he argued, is considerably more complex than how it’s being framed in the media. The real question is what capacity the justice system has to actually function here, and whether any concrete evidence exists to prove the racist incident happened.
It’s a fair point, and one that tends to get lost when everyone’s busy shouting about celebrations and counter-accusations.
The bigger picture
What’s striking is how quickly the conversation shifted away from the racism allegation itself and onto everything around it — the dance, the yellow card debate, Valverde’s reaction. Benfica arguably played a part in that deflection, and the Radio MARCA lot weren’t shy about saying so.
Vinicius, for his part, remains one of the most scrutinised players on the planet. Whether that scrutiny is ever applied fairly is, as ever, the real question.