It was easier than usual to root for Real Madrid on Sunday.
The team’s star winger Vinícius Jr. had been at the center of a firestorm, which was set off by Atlético Madrid midfielder Koke warning the Brazilian not to perform his trademark dance if he scored in the Madrid derby.
“There would be trouble, for sure, [that is] to be expected,” Koke said ahead of Sunday’s match at Atlético’s home Metropolitano Stadium.
In an appearance on Spanish TV later on Friday, leading agent Pedro Bravo backed Koke’s comments but added his own unique (read: racist) spin on things.
“When you score against a rival, if you want to dance samba, you go to the sambadrome in Brazil, here what you have to do is to respect your colleagues and stop playing the monkey,” Bravo said.
Amid that backdrop, some Atlético fans made things even uglier by calling Vinícius a monkey in pre-game chants outside the stadium. Unfortunately, as the linked video shows, it wasn’t just a few fans either.
Vinícius responds
After he posted a response on social media leading up to the game, Vinícius and his Madrid teammates had the perfect on-field response in Sunday’s derby.
After Rodrygo opened the scoring, he and his Brazilian teammates went to the corner flag and defiantly danced in front of the Metropolitano crowd.
RODRYGO SCORES AN ABSOLUTE BEAUTY AND DANCES WITH VINICIUS 🤩🕺 pic.twitter.com/aekxsvMsZd
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) September 18, 2022
Vinícius was heavily involved on Madrid’s second goal, as his shot hit the post and was put home by Federico Valverde.
Real Madrid would go on to win 2-1 in a game where Los Blancos had a lot more neutral fans than they are likely to ever have.
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