"I can't comment too much on it, because it's an ongoing investigation at this point. But I think what happened tonight is a disgrace to football, it completely overshadowed our performance and came after a great goal. Vinicius has been subjected to this a few times throughout his career. It ruined our night as a team, and it was a disgrace to football. There's no place for it in football or in society."
"It's disgusting. We come out here to do a job. We love what we do. But when something like that happens, it takes the fun out of the job, it ruins it for all of us. We're proud of the way we handled it in a hostile environment. With the way the environment reacted to it, as well, we stood together."
Real Madrid won 1-0 at Benfica after Vinicius Junior scored early in the second half. The match was paused for around 10 minutes after Vinicius reported alleged racial abuse following an interaction with Gianluca Prestianni, and referee Francois Letexier stopped play under UEFA protocols. Play resumed amid a hostile atmosphere, and a bottle thrown from the crowd struck Vinicius in stoppage time. Trent Alexander-Arnold described the scenes as a disgrace to football, said it ruined the team's night, and praised the team's unity while noting an ongoing investigation into the incident.
Read at Soccer News
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