Just three days after the racism scandal in the game at FC Valencia, Real Madrid won at home against Rayo Vallecano. The focus was on Real’s Vinicius Jr., who was sitting in the stands.
Accompanied by emotional statements of solidarity for star striker Vinicius Junior, Real Madrid has at least temporarily improved to second place in the Spanish league. The team led by Toni Kroos won 2-1 (1-0) against Rayo Vallecano on the third-to-last matchday, initially overtaking city rivals Atletico Madrid. The focus was on Vinicius, who was racially insulted again on Sunday.
Now the fans at the Bernabeu stadium hung a huge banner with the inscription “We are all Vinicius, that’s enough” on, the Real and Rayo players also showed a banner: “Racists out of football”. In addition, all Madrilenians wore the jersey of the 22-year-old Brazilian, who was sitting next to club boss Florentino Perez in the honorary stand, before kick-off. The red card for Vinicius from the scandal game at FC Valencia was canceled, but the 22-year-old was missing due to knee problems.
chants for “Vini”
The winger was repeatedly celebrated with “Vini, Vini” chants. Vinicius saw his team’s mandatory victory endangered for only a very short time, Karim Benzema (31st) and Rodrygo (89th) scored for Madrid. Raul de Tomas (84th) had equalized in the meantime.
Atletico have the chance to overtake Real again in the evening at Espanyol Barcelona. In addition, former Bundesliga goalkeeper Pepe Reina (40) still has hopes of qualifying for the Champions League after winning his 1000th competitive game as a professional.
With FC Villarreal, Reina won 2-0 (2-0) against FC Cadiz on Wednesday evening, reducing the gap to fourth-placed Real Sociedad San Sebastian to five points. Reina played three games for FC Bayern in the 2014/2015 season.