Real Madrid are top of the table when they host CA Osasuna at the Bernabeu on Saturday afternoon. One question at the matchday press conference put coach Carlo Ancelotti in a bad mood before the game.
An extra-sporting issue dominated the headlines in Madrid in the second half of the week. Vinicius Junior had appeared in a court in the Spanish capital on Thursday morning to give evidence following the racist hostilities against him in Valencia on 21 May. At the appointment, which had previously been postponed twice, the Brazilian described his personal impressions.
However, those same impressions prompted Valencia FC to issue an official statement shortly afterwards. The current ninth-placed team in La Liga expressed its “surprise, rejection and indignation”. Valencia was bothered that Vinicius Junior blamed the entire stadium in his statement. “As coach Carlo Ancelotti himself has publicly acknowledged, the behaviour can in no way be generalised to the entire Mestalla,” Valencia wrote: “The club is fully aware of the seriousness of this matter. Racism has no place in football or in society, but it cannot be fought with errors or unfounded lies. “
Valencia’s call for public correction of the statement
Security camera footage had already identified three Valencia supporters some time ago and the club had banned them from the stadium for life. It would be wrong to lump the entire fan community together. The 2001 Champions League finalist went even further: “Valencia fans must not be called racist and Valencia CF demands that Vinicius Junior publicly corrects his alleged statement from this morning. “
The public reversal of blame properly upset coach Carlo Ancelotti on Friday. “I think people are trying to divert attention from the issue,” said the Italian: “Because the issue is that Vinicius Junior was the victim of racist insults. It’s not about whether it was one, ten, a thousand or ten thousand people. He is a victim of racism and there is a judicial process.”
Sometimes Spanish media “want to distract from the issue – it’s sad and it makes me angry,” Ancelotti rumbled. The next direct encounter between Real and Valencia takes place in La Liga in mid-November, with Vinicius Junior’s possible return to the Mestalla scheduled for early March. Ancelotti was asked whether he would use the Brazilian attacker then. He answered unequivocally: “Of course. “
