Carlo Ancelotti, the coach of Real Madrid, expressed his displeasure with some segments of the Spanish media on Friday for targeting Vinicius Junior despite the fact that he had been the “victim of racial abuse.”
On Friday, the daily Super Deporte, headquartered in Valencia, published a front page that referred to Vinicius as “Pinochius” and included a picture of a large nose superimposed over the player’s face. This was a reference to the mythical figure Pinocchio, whose nose gets longer whenever he commits a lie.
Reports that Vinicius informed a Spanish court that “all of the Mestalla stadium hurled racist insults” at him were “rejected” by the La Liga club Valencia on Thursday. Super Deporte said that Vinicius “lied to the judge.”
During a La Liga encounter in May at the Mestalla Stadium in Valencia, the striker for Real Madrid was the target of racial slurs, and on Thursday he was questioned by a court in Spain over the incident via video conference.
During Real Madrid’s 1-0 defeat, many individuals are said to have yelled “monkey” at a player and made other racial gestures. Public prosecutors and La Liga have filed complaints in response to these allegations.
“Something has happened and here I think they are trying to deflect it, the fact is that Vinicius has been a victim of racist abuse, be it one or 10 (insults), 1,000 or 10,000,” Ancelotti said during a press conference.
“The reality is that we have a player who is currently going through the legal process after being the target of racial abuse,” the coach said.
“That there are media outlets who want to distract from it is a shame and makes me angry.”
Real Madrid said in May that the chanting, in their perspective, constituted “a hate crime,” while Brazil lodged an official complaint with the Spanish embassy. Real Madrid’s statement was made in May.
Three young males were taken into custody on the suspicion that they were the individuals who insulted the victim. They admitted the truth of the situation but denied having any malicious or racial motives against the athlete.
Vinicius was able to single out one of them when they were at the stadium. The other suspects were recognised from the surveillance video.
On Saturday, Real Madrid, who are now atop the La Liga standings, will play home to Osasuna. Vinicius is still working his way back to his best form following an injury.
Because David Alaba is still out with an injury, Carlo Ancelotti is having difficulty resolving his defensive issues. As a result, centre defender Antonio Rudiger will be partnered with an out-of-position player, either Ferland Mendy or Aurelien Tchouameni.
“We’ve tried Tchouameni there in the last two days of training, he’s got a defensive attitude, is good with his head, in duels, what he uses as a pivot he can use in defence,” according to Ancelotti.
“The other (option) is Mendy, he’s a defender and he’s used to playing in the back line.”