‘You cannot justify racism over a celebration’: Real Madrid’s Thibaut Courtois slams Jose Mourinho for comments on Vinicius Jr

2 hours ago 21

2 min readFeb 24, 2026 10:12 PM IST

Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior argues with Benfica's head coach José Mourinho after scoring the opening goal during a Champions League playoff soccer match between SL Benfica and Real Madrid in Lisbon. (AP Photo)

Real Madrid keeper Thibaut Courtois said that he was disappointed with Benfica coach Jose Mourinho comments on Vinicius Junior’s character after the Real Madrid forward had complained of being racially abused in the first leg of their Champions League play-off game.

Vinicius had accused Gianluca Prestianni, a member of Mourinho’s Benfica team, of racially abusing him as he celebrated a goal in Lisbon. Vinicius had walked off the pitch which led to the game being halted for 10 minutes.

“Mourinho is Mourinho, as a coach you’ll always defend your club and you’ll believe your player… but one thing disappointed me. Mourinho was using Vini’s celebration as an excuse. You can NOT justify racism over a celebration,” Courtois said ahead of the second leg of the Champions League match between Real and Benfica on Wednesday night.

Last week, Mourinho had suggested that Vinícius had ‘incited’ Benfica’s players with his celebrations after scoring the only goal in Tuesday’s playoff match.]

Meanwhile on Monday, UEFA banished Prestianni from the 2nd leg match following accusations he racially abused Vinícius in the first leg of the knockout round last week.

Madrid won 1-0 in Lisbon after Vinícius scored in the second half. But when the Brazil forward celebrated by the Benfica corner flag and upset the local fans and players, the game was halted for nearly 10 minutes. Prestianni confronted Vinícius, who accused the Argentine of calling him “monkey.” Prestianni denied racially insulting Vinícius.

The anti-racism protocol was activated but no further action was taken during the match as there was no evidence against Prestianni, who covered his mouth with his shirt while talking to Vinícius. The Madrid forward was shown a yellow card after his celebration.

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UEFA said the one-match suspension of Prestianni from its control, ethics and disciplinary body was related to discriminatory behavior.

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