Trent Alexander-Arnold slams alleged racist abuse of Vinicius Jr - 'Disgrace to football'

Former Liverpool star Trent Alexander-Arnold has slammed the alleged racist abuse Vinicius Jr suffered after Real Madrid's Champions League game against Benfica was suspended

Trent Alexander-Arnold slammed the alleged racist abuse Vinicius Jr received(Image: Amazon Prime Video)

Trent Alexander-Arnold hopes Vinicius Jr will get “justice” after Real Madrid’s game against Benfica was halted after the Brazilian was allegedly racially abused.

Vinicius scored the only goal in Lisbon as Real claimed a 1-0 win in the first leg of its Champions League play-off encounter, putting it a step closer to place in the last-16 of the competition.

The game though was overshadowed by the aftermath of the goal, with the game suspended for around 10 minutes after Vinicius reported a comment made to him, leading the referee to initiate UEFA’s anti-racism protocol as chaos ensued between both sides.

Benfica winger Gianluca Prestianni had been spotted on camera covering his mouth with his shirt as he spoke with Vinicius before the report was made to the referee.

Benfica boss Jose Mourinho attempted to speak to the Real winger in the aftermath, with Vinicius clearly left incensed with what he had heard, and his teammate has now backed him up.

“I can’t comment too much on it because it’s probably an ongoing investigation at this point,” former Liverpool star Alexander-Arnold told Amazon Prime Video.

Vinicius Jr speaks to Jose Mourinho as Real Madrid's game against Benfica is halted(Image: Getty Images)

“But I think what’s happened tonight is a disgrace to football. It’s overshadowed a performance, especially after such an amazing goal.

“Vini’s been subjected to this a few times throughout his career, and for it to happen tonight and ruin a night for us as a team is a disgrace.

“Like I said, it’s a disgrace to football. There’s no place in football or society, it’s disgusting.”

He added: “Obviously, it’s upsetting. We as people, we come here to do a job, we enjoy what we do, and when something like that happens, it ruins it, it takes the fun out of the game, and it ruins the night for all of us.

“We stick together as a team, as you saw out there tonight. We dug deep, we got the win, most of all I think we’re all proud of the way we handled it in a hostile environment, the way the environment acted to it as well.

“It didn’t effect us, and we dug deep, kept the clean sheet and got the win.”

Asked about Vinicius’ response, Alexander-Arnold added: “He wanted to carry on. He’s got a very, very strong mentality, like I said he’s been subjected to this a few times throughout his career and he’s handled it excellently.

“But for it to carry on and for it to happen tonight, like I said it’s a disgrace to football.

“Hopefully there’s justice involved in what happened. There’s no place for it in football or society.”