Real Madrid's Champions League knockout play-off tie against Benfica was halted for 10 minutes after Vinicius Jr. initially refused to play on following an alleged racist comment made to him by Benfica's Gianluca Prestianni...

Vinícius Júnior has described racists as “cowards” and criticised authorities for failing to adequately punish discriminatory behaviour, following Real Madrid’s 1-0 victory at Benfica.

The Real Madrid forward said perpetrators of racist abuse “need to put their shirts in their mouths to show how weak they are,” adding that they are often shielded by those with a clear obligation to sanction them.

“They have protection of others who, theoretically, have a clear obligation to punish them in these cases,” he said.

Vinicius added that incidents of abuse were not new to him or his team, noting he was shown a yellow card for celebrating a goal during the match.

“I still don’t understand why I got that card,” he said.

The Brazilian said he was reluctant to speak out after what he described as a significant win for Real Madrid but felt compelled to address the issue.

“Nothing that happened today is new in my life or in my team’s life,” he said. “I don’t like to appear in situations like this, after the big win when headlines should be about Real Madrid… but it’s necessary.”

Meanwhile, Gianluca Prestianni denied directing racist insults at Vinicius, saying his remarks had been misunderstood.

“I want to clarify that at no time did I direct racist insults to Real Madrid player Vinicius Jr — who has regrettably misunderstood what he thought he heard from me,” Prestianni said in a statement.

“I was never racist with anyone and I regret the threats I received from Real Madrid players,” he added.