Jose Gaya on Vinicius Junior incident – “You can’t say Valencia are racist because of four or five imbeciles”

Going into Saturday’s fixture between Valencia and Real Madrid, the big storyline is Vinicius Junior’s return to the Mestalla for the first time since that fateful day last May, when the Brazilian forward was racially abused by a small section of home supporters in the Mario Kempes south stand.

Ahead of this weekend’s showdown, Valencia captain Jose Gaya – who played a key role in trying to move Vinicius away from the section where he was subjected to racist abuse – spoke to Marca to reflect on the incident.

“I was trying to take him away from the crowd a bit. At the time, I didn’t know that he had been targeted with those gestures or that he had been told anything. I didn’t hear it. When Vinicius faces people and goes towards them, what I tried to do is push him away. But at the time I didn’t know what I later saw, the gestures of a person or two. But I didn’t know it at the time.

“I thought the way Valencia and the Valencia fans were treated in the aftermath was very unfair. I’ve been here for ten years and nothing has ever happened in that sense. It’s true that there were four or five who were dumb, that’s the reality, and Valencia have acted in the best way they can act, which is by kicking them out. Those people will no longer be able to return to the stadium, but I think Valencia and the city and all the people are an example of fans in everything. You can’t say that Valencia fans are racist because four or five imbeciles did that. I think it’s very unfair.”

It’s likely to be a very charged atmosphere at the Mestalla on Saturday, and Valencia will hope that they are use this to secure a positive result against Real Madrid – more than anything, everyone involved will hope that a repeat incident does not occur this time around.