MADRID: Vinicius Junior subjected to racial abuse last weekend will miss a second successive match due to a knee problem Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said on Friday.
The 22-year-old Brazilian winger has received worldwide support since being racially abused by Valencia fans last Sunday.
Vinicius did not play against Rayo Vallecano in Madrid’s midweek win because of some knee discomfort, but was present as his team-mates showed him their support by wearing his number 20 shirt before the game.
He has failed to shake off the problem for Saturday’s away match with Europa League finalists Sevilla.
“Vinicius will not travel because he will not play, he’d go if he had the chance of playing (but) his knee is still giving him problems,“ Ancelotti told a news conference Friday.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s home or away, he can’t play. I hope that he can play in the last game.”
Vinicius was sent off against Valencia but his ban was later overturned by the Spanish football federation’s Competition Committee.
One Sevilla fan group are encouraging supporters to protest against Real Madrid and their president Florentino Perez because of the decision by waving white handkerchiefs at the game.
La Liga president Javier Tebas apologised to Vinicius on Thursday after appearing to criticise him on Twitter for his complaints about the Spanish top flight belonging to “racists”.
“I didn’t want to criticise Vinicius,“ Tebas told reporters.
“My frustration was my mistake. I understand that Vinicius is frustrated because he doesn’t understand about the division of powers (for dealing with racism), but I’m also frustrated because I do know about it and there were no sanctions.”
Ancelotti said Madrid were also without Karim Benzema and Marco Asensio with other injury issues.
Los Blancos are second in the table, a point ahead of city rivals Atletico.
Sevilla, 10th, still have a chance of qualifying for next season’s UEFA Conference League, sitting just a point behind Osasuna in seventh. – AFP
