Mourinho pays a heavy price in the rematch against Real Madrid

Jose Mourinho was sent off in the turbulent Champions League match amid accusations of racial abuse aimed at Vinicius Jr.

On a tense night at Estadio da Luz, the “Special One” was sent to the stands for protesting the referee while his team was striving to equalize. Mourinho showed anger and repeatedly complained from the technical area. The referee initially approached to issue a yellow card warning. However, the situation quickly escalated as the Portuguese coach lost his composure, resulting in a red card.

Before Mourinho’s dismissal, the match was halted for 10 minutes after an incident deemed as racial abuse against Vinicius Junior. The Brazilian star scored the only goal in the 50th minute, then celebrated in front of Benfica’s supporters. He was pelted with objects from the stands and also received a yellow card for his reaction.

Vinicius Jr later spoke with French referee Francois Letexier, reporting that Benfica player Gianluca Prestianni had racially abused him. The referee immediately made FIFA’s “No Racism” gesture by crossing his arms above his head.

After being sent off, Mourinho seemed to find humor in the situation, making those around him laugh. The 63-year-old coach remained close enough to the technical area to still influence his team’s performance.

Former referee Mark Clattenburg commented on Amazon Prime: “It will be interesting to see how UEFA handles this, as he remains in the technical area where Benfica’s coaching staff is, whereas he should be further away and not directing from that zone.”

Meanwhile, commentator Alan Shearer remarked: “It’s not that we expect him to change or slow down, but this is classic Mourinho.”

Being sent off means the Portuguese manager will miss next week’s return leg at Bernabeu.

This match did not replicate the chaos of Benfica’s 4-2 victory last month, when goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin scored a header in the dying seconds to keep Benfica in the competition.