Vinicius Jr scored a brilliant 50th-minute winner as Real Madrid beat Benfica 1-0 in the first leg of their Champions League play-off at the Estadio da Luz, a match halted for 10 minutes after the Brazilian was allegedly subject to racist abuse following his goal.
The forward curled a magnificent shot past Anatoliy Trubin into the far top corner, but the night was defined less by the football than by the confrontation that followed, with referee Francois Letexier activating the anti-racism protocol after Vinicius spoke to him about an alleged insult from Benfica's Gianluca Prestianni.
Lively Start at the Luz
Benfica began brightly, the noise rising as Rafa Silva was almost slipped in after just three minutes. Leandro Barreiro drove forward willingly from deep, and Fredrik Aursnes forced a superb save from Thibaut Courtois with a stinging drive.