Álvaro Arbeloa condemned the alleged racist incident involving Vinicius Jr during Real Madrid's Champions League play-off victory over Benfica. The Brazilian scored the only goal and was booked for his celebration before Benfica's Gianluca Prestianni allegedly called him a monkey, according to Kylian Mbappé. Arbeloa emphasized zero tolerance for racism, stating 'we ride together and die together' with Vini Jr.
Play was paused for ten minutes after Vini reported the alleged comments to the referee. Prestianni has denied the allegations, claiming Vini Jr misunderstood what he heard.