In advance of the city derby on Sunday night, Atletico Madrid fans yelled racist taunts at Real Madrid midfielder Vinicius as they approached the club’s Civitas Metropolitano stadium.
As they waited to enter the stadium, several Atletico supporters yelled, “Vinicius is a monkey.”
The scandalous incidents occurred two days after Real Madrid denounced racial abuse directed at the Brazilian in a statement.
The storm has been brewing all week.
Vinicius received criticism for dancing at the Santiago Bernabeu after scoring against Mallorca last weekend.
In response, he denounced the Mallorca bench members who had yelled at their players to kick him.
The question of whether it was rude for a player to dance after scoring was raised as a result, and this is when the racists entered the discussion.
Football agent Pedro Bravo said on a late-night Spanish football program that Vinicius should go back to Brazil if he wanted to perform a samba when he scored.
He continued, “He should act like a monkey instead of being respectful.”
Real Madrid responded with a statement, although they omitted to mention the program where the remarks were made.
The tension leading up to the game was then accidentally increased by Atletico Madrid. When asked what would happen if Vinicius celebrated with a dance in the Metropolitano, he said, “There will be trouble.”
Real Madrid knew that if they won the derby, they would go eight points ahead of their neighbors after winning all eight of their games this season in all competitions.
Prior to the game, Atletico Madrid issued a tweet encouraging fans to support the team with “passion” but also exhibiting “respect” for their opponents.
