Real Madrid Player Pledges Support to Vinicius Jr, Threatens Walkout

• Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr was subject to racial chants in the La Liga match round 35 fixture at the Mestalla
• The game had to be paused in one instance as Vinicius pointed out a particular fan who was hurling racist abuse
• Thibaut Courtois stated that he would leave the pitch along with Vinicius Junior if the latter receives racist abuse

Real Madrid superstar, Thibaut Courtois, has said that he would leave the pitch along with Vinicius Junior if the latter receives racist abuse.

The Brazilian attacker was the subject of constant racist slurs during Madrid's away clash against Valencia on Sunday, in what was the 10th racist abuse incident the forward has experienced this season.

The game had to be paused in one instance, as Vinicius, along with other Los Blancos players, went to point out a particular fan who was hurling racist abuse at the player.

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Courtois has now shared his take on the matter. He lambasted the fans for their actions. Speaking to France 24, the big Belgian said:

"If Vini wants to keep playing, we keep playing, but if Vinicius Jr says he's leaving, I'm leaving the pitch with him, because we cannot tolerate these things."

Speaking of the incident that raised eyebrows in an already feisty fixture – Vinicius receiving a red card during a brawl in the 97th minute of the encounter, Courtois said:

"With the brawl, the first to receive a red card should be Hugo Duro, who grabbed Vinicius by the neck."

The Real Madrid goalkeeper also said that there were racist slurs aimed at his Brazilian teammate earlier in the game, too:

"I feel bad because there was an act of racism. I remember at the start, around the 20th minute there were monkey sounds; sometimes it's hard to see if it is or not, (but) the first thing is that we cannot accept this; we cannot tolerate this. One day, you will have to put a camera just focused on these people because the disgusting things you can hear are crazy."

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Madrid suffer defeat at Valencia

The racism controversy at the Mestalla made football take a back seat. In the game, Real Madrid lost 1-0, with Diego Lopez netting a 33rd-minute winner.

Despite bossing possession, Los Blancos failed to score, slumping to their second straight loss across competitions without scoring.

Earlier in midweek, they went down 4-0 at Manchester City in the UEFA Champions League semifinal second leg, bowing out with a 5-1 aggregate defeat.

Following their loss at the Mestalla, Carlo Ancelotti's team have slipped to third spot in the league. They have 71 points from 35 games and trail second-placed Atletico Madrid by a point. This loss serves as a boost for Atletico Madrid who as per Daily Mail reports, hope to finish ahead of rivals Real Madrid.

Vinicius fires back at Tebas

Earlier Sports Brief reported Real Madrid forward Vinicius fired back with a fiery statement to La Liga's President Javier Tebas's stand on Sunday's event.

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Vinicius quoted Tebas's tweet with the response:

"Once again, instead of criticising racists, the president of LaLiga appears on social media to attack me. As much as you talk and pretend not to read, the image of your championship is shaken. See the responses to your posts and have a surprise. Omitting yourself only makes you equal to racists. I'm not your friend to talk about racism. I want actions and punishments. Hashtag doesn't move me."

It remains to be seen what final action La Liga's governing body will take to prevent the lingering issue of racism.