One of the most demoralising incidents of the 2022-23 season took place at the Estadio Mestalla in May, during Real Madrid’s 1-0 defeat to Valencia.
In the second half, Vinicius Junior acted angrily to shouts from the Mario Kempes south stand, which were later revealed to have been racist remarks. After the match, the Brazilian would go on to label Spain and LaLiga as racist, which many agreed with.
However, one of those that does not go along with this is Vinicius’ club and international teammate, Rodrygo. However, when speaking to the media whilst on Brazil duty (via Relevo), the 22-year-old also revealed that he heard the “entire” Mestalla stadium chanting “mono” (monkey in Spanish) at Vinicius.
Rodrygo habla claro del racismo y el ‘caso Vinicius’.
💬 "España no es racista”.
💬 “Yo vi al estadio entero gritar ‘mono”. pic.twitter.com/zVWEibpNYx
— Relevo (@relevo) June 14, 2023
The incident was a stain on Spanish football, and Valencia were harshly punished for it, although their punishment was later reduced on appeal.
Vinicius was the target of racist abuse on multiple occasions during the 2022-23, but going for, it is hoped that these despicable acts begin to stop.