A week before the Montjuïc classic, Real Madrid once again found itself entangled in controversies with Vinícius. In the match against Sevilla at the Sánchez Pizjuán, dominated by extreme tension and in which anyone could have won, the Brazilian was involved in an altercation in the final minutes. It all started with a push from Vinícius to the local goalkeeper, Nyland. The Dane greatly exaggerated the force of the blow, fell to the ground and everything led to a brawl in which numerous players from both teams intervened. The action ended with a yellow card for Vinícius and Ocampos.
Ancelotti opted at that moment to change Vinícius and thus preserve him for the Barcelona match. Then, in the press room, the Italian coach played down the incident and assured that fifteen players had intervened and not just Vinícius.
That wasn't all. The Brazilian once again suffered racist attacks from the Pizjuán audience. During the match, Sevilla identified and expelled one of its fans from the stadium, who provoked the white player by imitating the gestures of a monkey. Sevilla issued a statement after the duel in which it announced that the fan "will be rigorously applied to the club's internal disciplinary regulations and will be expelled from membership imminently." Furthermore, shortly afterwards a video emerged showing a young fan making the same racist gestures.
Vinícius himself used social networks to thank Sevilla for the quick reaction but regret the young man's attitude. “Unfortunately I had access to a video of another racist act in the game, this time carried out by a child. I am very sorry that there is no one to educate you. I invest a lot in education in Brazil to train citizens with attitudes different from these. The face of today's racist is reflected on websites as on many other occasions. I hope that the Spanish authorities do their part and change the legislation once and for all. These people must also be criminally punished. It would be a great first step in preparing for the 2030 World Cup. I am available to help. Sorry for seeming repetitive, but this is isolated episode number 19. And counting..."
Real Madrid, for its part, left the Pizjuán hurt for having left two points and stung by the refereeing of De Burgos Bengoetxea, a referee whom on Friday it had already criticized in its official media with an extensive report in which it reproduced the plays in which he felt very harmed by the decisions of the Basque referee.
Sevilla's vice president, José María del Nido junior, was outraged before the game: "I ask Madrid to reflect, to stop these videos and to stop going against all the clubs."
After the game there was another unusual situation. Carlo Ancelotti, usually temperate, said in the press room that the referee's performance had been “correct in everything.” Then, before the Real Madrid TV cameras, he said the complete opposite: “If I say what I think, I lose many games and what I like most is sitting on the Madrid bench, so to avoid suspensions, I am ironic.” For white television, what had happened at Pizjúan had been “a sociological scandal”, in a clear message to Joan Laporta.
Saturday's classic in Barcelona is once again announced to be very hot.
