After all it needed to be him. Eight days on from claims he was racially abused in Lisbon, Vinicius Jr scored the objective that ended Benfica’s problem and despatched Actual Madrid via to the final 16 of the Champions League.
With alleged perpetrator Gianluca Prestianni absent resulting from a provisional UEFA ban – the Argentine vehemently denies any wrongdoing – the Brazilian was denied a head-to-head together with his fellow South American.
However there was nonetheless an edge to the event and, though it was a far-from-comfortable night for the 15-time champions, it was becoming that Vinicius Jr had the ultimate say. His composed end was adopted by the corner-flag dance that sparked the rumpus on the Estadio da Luz.
Benfica boss Jose Mourinho was not current to witness it with stories suggesting he had opted to look at the sport from the staff bus moderately than within the stands after being banned from the touchline resulting from his purple card final week.
He would have been impressed by his staff’s show, though it was finally in useless.
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