Vinicius returns to the Bernabeu, the homage of his teammates and an apology from Tebas

From our correspondent Filippo Maria Ricci

May 24th
– madrid

Much love. This has collected today Vinicius at the Bernabeu. The Real Madrid footballer received a huge tribute after the racist episode he suffered on Sunday in Mestalla. The Brazilian had been sent off against Valencia but the red card was officially removed by the Referee Committee amid great controversy: he could have played against Rayo Vallecano but was rested due to a knee problem.

Classmates

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Vinicius was however the protagonist: many fans with his shirt, scarves, drawings and a large banner in the Fondo Sur: “We are all Vinicius. Enough!”. Then the teammates, who took to the field wearing the Brazilian’s number 20 shirt, with Vinicius shyly looking out onto the lawn without reuniting with them, as if not wanting to overly steal the show, disturbed by so much attention. Vinicius did not go to watch the game with the other injured players: Florentino Perez wanted him on his right in the presidential box, with dozens of fans taking pictures with him. In the 20th minute, that of his shirt, the stadium paid him another acoustic tribute, and when Rodrygo scored the 2-1 goal in the 89th minute, he dedicated the goal to his friend and compatriot by drawing a heart with his hands and symbolically sending it towards the stage. Vinicius thanked with emotion.

Tebas apologies

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After the terrible experience of Mestalla and three days full of attention from all over the world, the 22-year-old Vinicius lived an afternoon full of love which was preceded by an apology message from Javier Tebas: “It was not my intention to attack Vinicius , but if people have interpreted my words that way I have to apologize. I didn’t want to attack him, on the contrary, I was just trying to clarify a situation and explain it”. The president of La Liga had had a double exchange of tweets with Vinicius and had been heavily criticized for the tone and content of the messages.