Real Madrid’s Champions League match away to Benfica descended into chaos after Vinicius Jr was allegedly racially abused and hit by a water bottle.

The Brazilian had just scored the opening goal of the game and was booked by referee Francois Letexier for his celebration which seemingly antagonised the home crowd.

When walking back to the centre circle with his Madrid team-mates, the 25-year-old was incensed by something said allegedly to him on the pitch.

Vinicius appeared to direct his ire towards Argentinian Benfica winger Gianluca Prestianni, who held his shirt over his mouth while speaking to the Madrid star after his goal.

The match was then halted by Letexier, who made a crossed arms gesture to signal reported racial abuse after a conversation with Vinicius, before ugly scenes were sparked inside the Estadio de Luz.

A Benfica coach was soon shown a red card as tensions spilled over, before former Madrid manager and Benfica boss Jose Mourinho was seen speaking to Vinicius on the pitch.

Real Madrid’s match against Benfica was halted after Vinicius Jr was allegedly racially abused

Argentinian Benfica winger Gianluca Prestianni could be seen making a comment to Vinicius 

Jose Mourinho could be seen speaking to the Brazilian Madrid winger after the alleged incident

The Brazilian sat in the away dugout while the match was paused for 10 minutes, as members of both teams’ coaching staff and players spilled out onto the pitch.

Kylian Mbappe was among those visibly enraged by what had happened, with the French forward having to be held back by his team-mates.

After the incident, former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg said on TNT sports that ‘words have been said between the players’.

He added: ‘Vinicius is not happy with what has been said. The referee is following the protocol for a racial comment that has been said.

‘Once Vinicius has approached the referee the referee now has to follow the protocol and the rules that Uefa have set out when this happens.

‘As a referee, I have had this situation before when players have reported a racial comment on the field of play. All he can do is make the report. Afterwards, then Uefa will look into this. As a referee it is very difficult in this situation.’

Alan Shearer, on commentary, added: ‘We don’t know what’s been said to him. We can see Jose Mourinho down there and he’s gone speaking to Real Madrid staff and Vini Jr himself to calm him down.

‘It’s such a shame, isn’t it? We should be talking about an excellent piece of skill and how he produced a piece of magic which this game needed.

Vinicius was booked after seemingly antagonising the crowd when celebrating his opener

Mourinho was shown a red card for seemingly calling for Vinicius to be sent off for a foul

‘Calm heads are needed because you can hear the crowd going after the players – as tough as that may be.’ 

Shortly after play resumed – to the sound of whistles and jeers from the crowd – Mourinho was sent off for seemingly calling for Vinicius to be shown a second yellow for a foul on Richard Rios. 

And deep into the 12 minutes of stoppage time, the chaos continued in Lisbon as play was briefly halted again by the referee after missiles were repeatedly thrown onto the pitch.

Standing over a corner shortly before the final whistle, a bottle was then thrown from the crowd before it crashed of Vinicius’s arm. 

It is unclear what was said to the Madrid star in Portugal but he has been the victim of racial insults in the past. 

On one occasion, three Valencia fans were given prison sentences for abusing him after an incident during a LaLiga match in May 2023 which left him in tears.

The supporters were each jailed for eight months and banned from attending football matches for two years in what were the first criminal convictions for racially abusing a footballer in Spain.

Responding to the convictions at the time, the Brazilian said: ‘Many asked me to ignore it, many others said that my fight was in vain and that I should just ‘play football’. But, as I’ve always said, I’m not a victim of racism. I am a tormentor of racists.

‘This first criminal conviction in the history of Spain is not for me. It’s for all black people. May other racists be afraid, ashamed and hide in the shadows. Otherwise, I’ll be here to collect.

‘Thank you to La Liga and Real Madrid for helping with this historic conviction. More to come…’

This is a breaking news story. More details to follow.