Real Madrid defeated Real Sociedad 1-0 in the Copa del Rey semifinal, with the game being marred by racist abuse against Brazilian international Vinicius Junior. The game’s only goal was scored by Vinicius’ Brazilian teammate Endrick in the first half at the Reale Arena in San San Sebastian in northern Spain.
But controversy came before the interval when the game had to be stopped following chants of “Asencio die” aimed at Real Madrid defender Raul Asencio. A video them emerged on social media showing a Real Sociedad fan appearing to make monkey gestures aimed at Vinicius Junior when the game was stopped.
Recent weeks have seen rival fans aiming chants at Asencio but this is the first time the game was stopped by the referee. The defender is alleged to have shared a sexually explicit video of a minor recorded by two former Real Madrid youth players. A Spanish court is currently investigating.
Just before half time, the match was paused after Vinicius Junior reported the chants against his teammate to the referee. “Vinicius spoke to the referee, the referee stopped the game, he applied the protocol, that was what had to happen,” Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti told reporters.
Asencio was replaced at half-time for Lucas Vazquez.
“I took him [Vinicius Jr] off because of two things, he was affected, and he had a yellow card, so I preferred to take him off,” Ancelotti explained. “I think nobody likes that a stadium chants for you to die. I think he was affected in that sense. He wasn’t exactly happy, I preferred to take him off in case how he was feeling could affect the game.”
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