Alexander-Arnold, Mbappe Rally Around Vinicius Jr—Uniting Real Madrid in Face of Adversity

Los Blancos’ victory over Benfica became about much more than just football.

Trent Alexander-Arnold (left) and Vinicius Junior helped lift Real Madrid to victory. | Octavio Passos/UEFA/Getty Images

Real Madrid stars Trent Alexander-Arnold and Kylian Mbappé loudly and publicly supported their teammate Vinicius Junior after he received reported racist abuse on Tuesday night.

The Brazilian winger had just gotten done celebrating a spectacular goal and the eventual match-winner in the first leg of the Champions League knockout phase playoffs when an exchange with Benfica winger Gianluca Prestianni turned the game into something ugly. Vinicius Jr alleged the Argentine player hurled racist abuse at him, prompting UEFA to trigger its anti-racism protocol.

The incident marred the rest of Los Blancos’ 1–0 victory, and Alexander-Arnold was quick to speak out after the final whistle sounded. “It’s ruined the night,” he told CBS Sports. “It’s a disgrace to the sport. It’s a disgrace in society as well. There’s no place for it.

“But now with incidents like this ... when [they] do happen, we can only deal with it the way we did tonight. I’m very proud of the team and the club and the squad and how everyone reacted and got around Vini.

“It’s something upsetting, something disappointing, but we reacted the right way. We kept our heads, we stayed calm. We fought for each other and defended each other and we played well.”

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Mbappé Sends Defiant Message on Social Media

Kylian Mbappé came to the defense of his teammate both on and off the pitch. | Patricia De Melo Moreira/AFP/Getty Images

Mbappé also vehemently backed Vinicius Jr, both after the game to journalists and on social media. The Frenchman would not even refer to Prestianni by his name, instead opting to call him “number 25,” and corroborated Aurélien Tchouaméni’s statement that the Argentine called their teammate a “monkey.”

Soon after the explosive interview, Mbappé took to X and wrote, “BAILA [DANCE] Vini Jr and please never stop. They will never tell us what we have to do or not.”

It was Vinicius Jr’s dancing at the corner flag that started the chain of events at the Estádio da Luz on Tuesday night. The Brazilian bust out some of his trademark moves after his goal and then was inexplicably booked for the celebration.

Then, when he returned to the halfway line on the brink of the restart, Prestianni covered his mouth with his shirt and and confronted Vinicius Jr, prompting the entire game to become about something much bigger than just football.

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The One Moment That Could Define Real Madrid’s Season

We should be talking about Vinícius Júnior's incredible goal tonight. pic.twitter.com/Jz96hdQr1C

— Sports Illustrated FC (@SI_FootballClub) February 17, 2026

Despite the controversy overshadowing the match, the moment that could go on to shape Real Madrid’s season had nothing to do with the alleged racism that occurred in Lisbon. Instead, it is Vinicius Jr’s spectacular goal that could be the turning point for a team beginning to look like true silverware contenders.

Los Blancos struggled to find an answer to Benfica’s low block in the first half, even though Alexander-Arnold was putting balls on a platter for Vinicius Jr and Mbappé. The game had a goalless feel to it early on given how disciplined and organized the hosts’ defense looked.

A draw would not have been the worst result for Álvaro Arbeloa’s men just three weeks following an embarrassing 4–2 defeat to the same opponents. But if the 15-time European champions really wanted to keep their momentum going after reclaiming the top stop in La Liga, then they needed to find a way to win, and one special moment from Vinicius Jr got them over the finish line.

Sure, the victory only came in the first leg, and there’s still plenty of football left to be played at the Bernabéu next week, but snatching the advantage in a bad-tempered, tightly contested match showed character from a team that had so often imploded in similar situations earlier in the season.

Should Real Madrid go on to make a deep run in the Champions League, they will very likely point to Vinicius Jr’s wondrous goal as the moment everything changed.

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