Jose Mourinho accused of ‘justifying racism’ after claiming Vinicius Jr ‘incited’ ugly Champions League chaos 

Jose Mourinho has been slammed for his response to the shocking scenes which marred Real Madrid’s win over Benfica.

The Champions League knockout play-off tie was suspended for ten minutes after Vinicius Jr reported racial abuse to the referee.

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Vinicius Jr left the field after putting Real Madrid in front at the Estadio da Luz with a stunning right-footed strike.

However, his winning goal was overshadowed after he appeared to allege Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni of the racial abuse before the match was suspended.

Following the lengthy delay, the clash resumed, with Real Madrid seeing out a narrow 1-0 victory.

Mourinho reacts to alleged racism

Mourinho was asked about the incident when speaking to Amazon Prime and gave a controversial response.

The Benfica boss insisted Prestianni had denied racially abusing Vinicius Jr, before accusing the Brazilian star of inciting the crowd.

He explained: “It should be the crazy moment of the game, an amazing goal.

“These talents are able to do these beautiful things, but unfortunately not just happy to score astonishing goal.

“When you score a goal like that, you celebrate in a respectful way.”

Asked whether he felt Vinicius Jr had incited the crowd, he added: “Yes. I believe so.

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“Then the words that they exchange Gianluca Prestianni with Vinicius I want to be an independent.”

Mourinho continued: “I saw two completely different things. I want to be independent, and I don’t comment about it. I told him [Vinicius Jr] exactly that.

“I told him, ‘when you score a goal like that you just celebrate and walk back’.

“When he was arguing about racism, I told him the biggest person [Eusebio] in the history of this club was black.

“This club, the last thing that it is, is racist. If in his mind there was something in relation to that, this in Benfica.

“They [Vinicius Jr and Prestianni] told me different things. But I don’t believe in one or another. I want to be an independent.”

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Mourinho slammed

Mourinho’s comments were immediately slammed by pundits Wayne Rooney, Clarence Seedorf and Theo Walcott.

Reacting to the Portuguese’s response, Seedorf said: “Jose made a huge mistake today by justifying racism.

“We should never ever justify racist abuse. Mourinho would agree with me but he expressed himself unfortunately.”

Rooney added: “It’s very unfair what he’s saying about Vinicius.”

Meanwhile, Walcott added: “It wasn’t a night for him (Jose) to be in front of the camera.”

Mourinho had been sent off during the closing stages of the match as part of a separate incident.

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He had been shown a yellow card moments earlier before the referee sent him to the stands.

It means he will face a touchline ban during the second leg at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday, February 25.