MADRID: Vinícius Júnior was subjected to racist abuse yet again on Sunday with the Brazil star saying the Spanish league “now belongs to racists.”
The latest abuse against Vinícius came in Real Madrid’s 1-0 loss at Valencia, a match that had to be temporarily stopped after the Brazil forward said he was insulted by a fan behind one of the goals at Mestalla Stadium.
“It wasn’t the first time, or the second or the third. Racism is normal in LaLiga. The competition thinks it’s normal, as does the federation, and the opponents encourage it,” Vinícius said on Instagram and Twitter. “The league that once belonged to Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Cristiano (Ronaldo) and (Lionel) Messi now belongs to racists ... But I’m strong and I will fight until the end against the racists. Even if far from here.”
The 22-year-old Vinícius, who is Black, has been subjected to racist abuse since moving to Spain five years ago.
Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti considered replacing the star forward after Vinícius said fans at Mestalla chanted “monkey” toward him. He said Vinícius initially didn’t want to continue playing.
“What happened today shouldn’t happen,” Ancelotti said. “When a stadium yells ‘monkey’ to a player, and the coach considers taking him out of the field because of that, it means that there is something bad in this league.”
The veteran coach refused to talk about the game after what happened, saying his team’s loss meant nothing.
“The game should have been stopped,” Ancelotti said. “This shouldn’t happen. It wasn’t only one person, as it has happened in several stadiums. Here, it was a stadium racially insulting a player, the game had to stop. I would have said the same thing if it was 3-0 for us. You have to stop the game, there was no way around it.”
Ancelotti said he asked the referee to stop the match, but was told that the protocol was to first make an announcement to fans, then take other action if the problem continued.
Ancelotti said Vinícius didn’t want to keep playing but he told the player that he wasn’t guilty of anything and that he was the victim. Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois said he would have left the field with Vinicius if his teammate had decided to stop playing.
“Vinícius is upset, obviously, but more than upset, he is sad,” Ancelotti said.
According to Spanish media reports, Valencia has identified two fans who allegedly insulted Vinícius behind one of the goals.
Some comments on social media claimed fans were saying the Spanish word “tonto” (silly) instead of “mono” (monkey).
Valencia later said it expected Ancelotti to apologize to Valencia fans for accusing them of racism after misunderstanding what was said. The coach told a news conference that the referee wouldn’t have started the racism protocol if he didn’t think there was racism in the stadium.
Vinícius was later sent off after an altercation with Valencia players, and gestured to home fans about their team’s fight against relegation as he left the field. Valencia took a huge step toward avoiding the drop with the 1-0 victory opening a five-point gap to the bottom three teams entering the final three rounds.
“The reward for the racists was my ejection!” Vinícius said on Instagram, along with the Spanish league’s slogan “It’s not soccer, it’s LaLiga.”
Vinícius had called the referee around the 70th minute and started pointing to a person sitting among the Valencia supporters. The player went near the stands and confronted the fans while players from both teams tried to restore calm.
Police eventually arrived in the stands to deal with the supporters. An announcement was made asking fans to behave.
The match at Mestalla was stopped for about seven minutes, and not long after it resumed Vinícius clashed with Valencia players and was sent off for pushing one of his opponents away with a hand to his face.
After the decision of his ejection was made following a video review, Vinícius started applauding ironically. As he was leaving the field, he made a “going down” gesture over relegation. That upset players on the Valencia bench and some charged toward Vinícius as he left the field, causing the game to be temporarily stopped again.
Valencia coach Rubén Baraja condemned the behavior of Valencia fans but also criticized Vinícius, saying he should have respected the club and its supporters.
Vinícius’ teammate Dani Ceballos criticized the fans but said he also expected Vinícius to apologize for his gestures after being sent off.
Ancelotti said Vinícius’ reaction was normal considering what he had gone through moments earlier.
The Spanish league said it has requested images from the game to investigate what happened. It will also probe possible insults against Vinícius outside Mestalla, when a large group of fans also allegedly called the player a monkey as the Madrid bus arrived.
League president Javier Tebas criticized Vinícius for attacking the league without fully understanding what it has done recently to combat racism, and saying the player didn’t show up for talks on the subject that he had requested himself.
The league has made nine formal complaints over racist abuse against Vinícius over the last two seasons, with many of the cases being shelved. A Mallorca fan may end up going on trial after allegedly racially insulting the Brazilian during a game.
The first trial against a fan accused of racial abuse in Spanish professional soccer is expected to happen at some point this year in a case involving Athletic Bilbao forward Iñaki Williams, who was insulted by an Espanyol supporter in a match in 2020.
Vinicius Junior says Spanish league ‘now belongs to racists’ after enduring more abuse
https://arab.news/gv5wx
Vinicius Junior says Spanish league ‘now belongs to racists’ after enduring more abuse
- The 22-year-old Vinícius, who is Black, has been subjected to racist abuse since moving to Spain five years ago
Newcastle manager Eddie Howe recovering from pneumonia
- 47-year-old sat out Sunday’s 4-1 Premier League win at home to Manchester United as he was kept in hospital
NEWCASTLE: Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe is recovering in hospital after being diagnosed with pneumonia and will miss this week’s matches, the Premier League club said on Monday.
The 47-year-old sat out Sunday’s 4-1 Premier League win at home to Manchester United as he was kept in hospital after feeling unwell for several days.
He missed Newcastle securing their first league double over the Old Trafford side since the 1930-31 season.
“A huge thank you to everyone connected with Newcastle United and the wider football community for your messages and warm wishes. They have meant a lot to me and my family,” Howe said in a statement from the club.
Howe has become a hero in Newcastle after arriving at the club in 2021 after coaching Bournemouth and Burnley.
He led the club to a League Cup final triumph over Liverpool in March, becoming the first home-grown coach to win one of England’s top domestic honors since 2008 and securing the club’s first domestic trophy in 70 years.
He was celebrated by 150,000 Newcastle fans in the streets of the city and honored with a massive banner unfurled outside St. James’ Park.
Jason Tindall and Graeme Jones will take charge of the team for the matches against visitors Crystal Palace on Wednesday and away to Aston Villa on Saturday.
Newcastle are fourth in the table with 56 points.
Messi and Miami fire blanks in front of record Chicago Fire crowd
- Chicago, coached by former USA boss Gregg Berhalter, limited Messi and his former Barcelona strike partner Luis Suarez to just a handful of opportunities
- The Fire should have grabbed all three points in the 88th minute when Bamba’s shot was parried out by Ustari but Maren Haile-Selassie put the follow-up shot wide
WASHINGTON: Inter Miami failed to score for the first time this season in Major League Soccer as they were held to a goalless draw by the Chicago Fire on Sunday.
A club-record crowd of 62,358 packed into Soldier Field for the visit of Lionel Messi and his Inter team to witness a gutsy display from the home side.
Chicago, coached by former USA boss Gregg Berhalter, limited Messi and his former Barcelona strike partner Luis Suarez to just a handful of opportunities.
The best effort from Messi, who played the full game, came in the third minute when he unleashed a snap shot from outside the box which was denied by a fine, diving save from Fire keeper Chris Brady.
There was no sense of Chicago being overawed by the big crowd at the stadium they share with the NFL’s Bears and they went close twice in the opening half with Mauricio Pineda forcing Oscar Ustari into a full stretch save and then Philip Zinckernagel striking the outside of the post from a narrow angle.
Suarez had a great chance to put Miami ahead just before the break when Noah Allen floated a ball in but the Uruguayan puts his shot over the bar.
After the break, Chicago enjoyed plenty of pressure with much of the creativity coming from former Lille winger Jonathan Bamba.
The Fire should have grabbed all three points in the 88th minute when Bamba’s shot was parried out by Ustari but Maren Haile-Selassie put the follow-up shot wide.
Bamba was denied again by Ustari moments later but in a frantic finale, Miami also could have stolen a win but, from a promising position, Tadeo Allende dragged his shot wide.
Miami had looked tired after their midweek exertions in their CONCACAF Champions Cup win over Los Angeles FC on Wednesday and coach Javier Mascherano appeared relieved they had picked up a point.
“We came with a very, very big load not only physically, but also mentally. So not losing is always important, too,” he said.
“I’ll take the positives, which is that we didn’t concede a goal. We’d been conceding goals for three games, and today we kept a clean sheet. ... Now, luckily, we have a long week of work, which is a bit of a break for us, after the start of the season we’ve had,” he said.
Former Miami coach Phil Neville saw his improving Portland Timbers team enjoy a 4-2 win at Sporting Kansas City with Venezuelan forward Kevin Kelsy scoring twice.
Portland are unbeaten in five games and move up to fourth in the Western Conference.
The Columbus Crew fought back from a goal down to enjoy a 2-1 win at St. Louis City.
Brazilian Joao Klauss opened the scoring for the home side before Crew defender Steven Moreira levelled with a side-footed volley.
Uruguayan Diego Rossi secured the win with a low drive from outside the box in the 55th minute.
Harvey Barnes brace routs Manchester United as Newcastle rise to fourth place
- Sandro Tonali put Newcastle ahead before Alejandro Garnacho equalized late in the first half
- Barnes provided a welcome tonic for Howe as his second-half brace at St. James’ Park
NEWCASTLE: Harvey Barnes struck twice as Newcastle thrashed troubled Manchester United 4-1 to climb into fourth place in the Premier League on Sunday.
Newcastle were without manager Eddie Howe, who was admitted to hospital on Friday after feeling unwell for several days.
But Barnes provided a welcome tonic for Howe as his second-half brace at St. James’ Park boosted Newcastle’s bid to qualify for the Champions League.
With Howe’s assistants Jason Tindall and Graeme Jones in charge of the League Cup winners, Sandro Tonali put Newcastle ahead before Alejandro Garnacho equalized late in the first half.
Barnes stole the spotlight after the interval, becoming the first Newcastle player to score twice in one league game against United since Alan Shearer in 2000.
Bruno Guimaraes punished a blunder from United keeper Altay Bayindir, who started in place of the dropped Andre Onana, to seal Newcastle’s first four-goal haul against United since 2001.
In the race to reach the Champions League via a top five finish, Newcastle are just one point behind third-placed Nottingham Forest.
They have a game in hand on Forest, as well as fifth-placed Manchester City and sixth-placed Chelsea, who are two points adrift of the Magpies.
United have now gone four games without a win in all competitions, leaving them languishing in 14th place with just six games left to avoid their lowest finish since 1973-74, when they came 21st and were relegated.
They are already certain to suffer their worst points total in the Premier League era, with the previous low 58 in 2021-22.
Ruben Amorim made five changes with an eye on Lyon’s visit to Old Trafford for the Europa League quarter-final, second leg next Thursday, but United were blown away with embarrassing ease.
Bayindir had replaced Onana after the Cameroon keeper’s latest error-strewn display in United’s 2-2 draw at Lyon last Thursday.
But the 26-year-old, signed from Fenerbahce in 2023, endured a woeful first Premier League start.
Newcastle’s opening goal arrived at the climax of a flowing move after United midfielder Manuel Ugarte gave the ball way in the 24th minute.
Kieran Trippier surged forward and found Alexander Isak, who astutely lifted his pass over the defense for Tonali to drive a clinical finish into the far corner from an acute angle 10 yards out.
It was the 19th time United had conceded the opening goal in a league game this season — their joint-most in a single campaign in the competition.
With United out of sync once again, Tonali almost doubled the lead as the Italy midfielder curled just wide from distance.
Bayindir looked nervous when he punched Tino Livramento’s cross straight to Isak, but he redeemed himself with a good save from the Swede’s volley.
United equalized completely against the run of play in the 37th minute.
Diogo Dalot was the catalyst with a buccaneering burst that carried him to the edge of the Newcastle area, where he slipped a precise pass to Garnacho and the Argentine winger fired past Nick Pope.
Having scored for just the second time in 2025, Garnacho went close to another when Pope palmed away his blast on the stroke of half-time.
But Newcastle regained the lead four minutes after half-time as United’s leaky defense was breached again.
Livramento’s low cross was alertly kept in by Murphy beyond the far post and his pass into the six-yard box found Barnes unmarked for a clinical finish.
Zirkzee limped off to add to United’s woes after crumpling to the turf with an apparent hamstring injury.
United were in disarray and Barnes delivered the knockout blow in the 64th minute, dispossessing Noussair Mazraoui and racing clear to drill a fierce strike past Bayindir.
In the 77th minute, Bayindir’s wayward pass went straight to Joelinton, who nodded the ball onto Guimaraes for a composed finish that rubbed salt into United’s gaping wounds.
Bayern fail to make most of Leverkusen slip with Dortmund draw
- Dortmund took the lead through Maximilian Beier in the 48th minute but Bayern hit back with two goals in four minutes, before Waldemar Anton equalized for the visitors with 15 minutes remaining
LEVERKUSEN, Germany: Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich were held to a 2-2 home draw with Borussia Dortmund on Saturday, failing to take advantage of Bayer Leverkusen’s slip-up earlier in the day.
After defending champions Leverkusen were held to a 0-0 draw at home to Union Berlin, Bayern knew a win would have moved them eight points clear with five games to play.
Dortmund took the lead through Maximilian Beier in the 48th minute but Bayern hit back with two goals in four minutes, before Waldemar Anton equalized for the visitors with 15 minutes remaining.
“We’ve moved a step closer to the championship and we’ve shown we can create plenty of opportunities,” said Bayern veteran Thomas Mueller, who will leave the club after 25 years at the end of the season.
“That should help us in the Champions League on Wednesday,” Mueller added of next week’s Champions League quarter-final second leg at Inter Milan, with Bayern facing a 2-1 first-leg deficit,
“(We need) to be more clinical,” said Harry Kane. “We’ll have opportunities, it’s about taking them in the right moments.”
Usually the standout fixture on the German football calendar, the buzz around the match was comparatively muted.
The visitors, who trail Barcelona 4-0 in their Champions League quarter-final, arrived in Munich sitting nine spots and 27 points behind in the table.
Bayern, enduring an injury crisis, were camped out near Dortmund’s box for almost the entire first half.
Visiting goalkeeper Gregor Kobel needed to snuff out big chances for Kane and Michael Olize.
Seemingly on the ropes at half-time, Dortmund opened the scoring three minutes into the second period, Beier heading between Bayern goalkeeper Jonas Urbig’s legs to finish off a counter-attack.
With Dortmund in the ascendancy and probing for a second, Kompany brought on Serge Gnabry and the move worked a treat.
The former Arsenal winger created the equalizer for former Dortmund midfielder Raphael Guerreiro on 65 minutes and then scored a goal of his own four minutes later, slaloming through the visiting defense before hammering home.
Dortmund hit back to level again when Anton knocked in a rebound from a Serhou Guirassy shot.
Bayern remain six points ahead of Leverkusen and closing in on regaining the title.
Nursing an ongoing Achilles injury, Bayern center-back Kim Min-jae was substituted in the second half, leaving the Bavarians with just one fit central defender.
Despite welcoming back star midfielder Florian Wirtz from a foot injury, Xabi Alonso’s Leverkusen lacked fluency in attack, carving out few clear-cut opportunities against Union Berlin.
Wirtz came on after 57 minutes and despite giving his side an initial boost, was unable to break down Union’s defense.
Granit Xhaka had a free-kick from the edge of the box in stoppage time but blasted his shot well over the bar.
“We’re dropping too many points at home,” Leverkusen captain Hradecky said.
“Mathematically there’s a small chance (of defending the title), but the probability has decreased.”
The draw continues a poor April for last season’s unbeaten domestic double winners, who were eliminated from the German Cup semifinals by third-division Arminia Bielefeld.
The draw lifted Union to 34 points, 12 clear of the relegation play-off spot.
The Berliners have taken 11 points from an unbeaten five-game run against Leverkusen, Bayern, Eintracht Frankfurt, Freiburg and Wolfsburg.
Borussia Moenchengladbach’s hopes of returning to the Champions League took a hit with a 2-1 home loss to Freiburg.
Freiburg snatched all three points when Johan Manzambi scored a 90th-minute header, allowing the visitors to leapfrog their opponents into sixth.
Augsburg continued their strong 2025 with a 2-1 win at lowly Bochum, climbing past Dortmund into eighth. Augsburg have only lost one of their past 13 games.
Elsewhere, Hoffenheim took a step toward beating the drop with a 2-0 home win over Champions League hopefuls Mainz, with Andrej Kramaric scoring a brace.
St. Pauli also boosted their hopes of top-division football next season with a 2-1 win over fellow promoted side Holstein Kiel.
De Bruyne leads Manchester City comeback, Forest beaten by Everton
- Unbeaten in seven games, Palace made the trip north full of confidence and found themselves 2-0 up after 20 minutes
- Belgian legend rolled back the years to save City’s blushes
MANCHESTER: Kevin De Bruyne inspired a Manchester City fightback from two goals down to beat Crystal Palace 5-2, while Nottingham Forest’s challenge for a place in next season’s Champions League stumbled after a 1-0 defeat by Everton on Saturday.
In De Bruyne’s first appearance at the Etihad Stadium since announcing his decade in Manchester will come to an end at the end of the season, the Belgian rolled back the years to save City’s blushes.
Unbeaten in seven games, Palace made the trip north full of confidence and found themselves 2-0 up after 20 minutes.
Eberechi Eze slotted home Ismaila Sarr’s pass before Chris Richards took advantage of poor City defending to head in from a corner.
Eze had a third goal narrowly ruled out for offside before De Bruyne stirred the City fightback.
The 33-year-old fired in a free-kick off the post before heading down for Omar Marmoush to level just three minutes later.
City were rampant after the break as De Bruyne teed up Mateo Kovacic on 47 minutes to complete the comeback.
Goalkeeper Ederson provided his fourth Premier League assist of the season for James McAtee to make it 4-2 before Nico O’Reilly’s sweet strike rounded off the scoring.
Victory lifts Pep Guardiola’s men back into the top four, with the top five in the Premier League this season qualifying for the Champions League thanks to the strong performance of English sides in European competition.
Forest remain in third and on course for their first taste of Europe’s elite competition since they were holders in 1980.
However, Nuno Espirito Santo’s men have lost their last two games to allow the chasing pack back onto their tails.
A forgetful game at the City Ground appeared to be meandering toward a stalemate until Abdoulaye Doucoure struck in the 94th minute to secure Everton’s first win in seven games.
Aston Villa’s Champions League run this season may have just days left in it as they trail Paris Saint-Germain 3-1 after the first leg of their quarter-final in the French capital.
Unai Emery’s men are making a charge to get back into the competition next season after maintaining their winning Premier League run with a 3-0 victory at already-relegated Southampton despite Marco Asensio having two penalties saved by Aaron Ramsdale.
Ollie Watkins was again left on the bench by Emery but made a stunning impact with a volley over Ramsdale from Youri Tielemans’ dinked pass 17 minutes from time.
Donyell Malen then sealed the points with his third goal in as many league games.
Asensio’s second spot-kick was saved in stoppage time, but John McGinn pounced on the rebound.
Villa climb above Chelsea into fifth, just one point behind City.
Leicester scored their first league goals since January to snap a nine-game losing run, but a 2-2 draw at Brighton still did little to help the Foxes’ hopes of survival.
Twice the Seagulls led through two Joao Pedro penalties.
But Brighton’s ambitions of European football next season were dealt a blow as Stephy Mavididi and Caleb Okoli levelled for Ruud van Nistelrooy’s men.
Arsenal can cut the gap on leaders Liverpool to eight points later when they host Brentford.
Mikel Arteta, though, showed his priority is in finishing the job against Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-finals as Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard were among those to start on the Gunners’ bench.
