Real Madrid 2-1 Rayo Vallecano: Real Madrid players and fans show their support for Vinicius Junior in the win

Real Madrid players and fans showed their support for Vinicius Junior when they beat Rayo Vallecano 2-1 at the Bernabéu.

Vinicius missed the match due to injury, and the Real players took to the field in his No. 20 shirt, while the captains of the two teams wore armbands bearing anti-racism messages.

Fans chanted the 22-year-old’s name in the 20th minute in solidarity.

Players from both clubs joined together before the start of the La Liga match, holding a banner that read, “The racists [get] outside of football.”

A banner was also displayed in the stands that read, “We are all Vinicius. Enough.”

Vinicius, who had his red card canceled against Valencia, was greeted when he took to the pitch before the match.

He was watching from the stands, as he sat next to Real’s president Florentino Pérez.

Vinicius got to his feet to acknowledge the show of support and later posted a photo of himself waving to fans on Instagram with the message: “I love them! Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

His Brazilian compatriot Rodrigo scored the winning goal in the 89th minute for third-placed Real.

They saw Karim Benzema’s opener ruled out by Raul de Tomas – and Rodrygo celebrated his goal with a black power salute.

President of the Spanish League Javier Tebas had apologized to Vinicius on Wednesdaysaying he did not intend to “attack” the player in a social media spat following Sunday’s events.

Vinicius, who was sent off for violent behavior late in the Valencia game, said La Liga “belongs to racists”.

Tebas and La Liga’s handling of the incident was widely condemned after the president told Vinicius “You have to inform yourself properly”.

La Liga said it would seek “further sanctioning powers” to ensure it could sanction incidents of racism.

On Tuesday, the Spanish Football Federation announced that Valencia had been penalized with a partial stadium closure for five matches and fined 45,000 euros (39,000 pounds).

Regarding the penalty, Real Madrid director Carlo Ancelotti said: “I was surprised by the competition committee’s decision. I think it was the right one.”

Ahead of Tuesday night’s matches between Real Valladolid, Barcelona, ​​Celta Vigo and Girona, players and match officials stood behind signs reading “Racism, out of football”.

Barcelona winger Rafinha also revealed a message of support to his fellow Brazilian in the second half when he was substituted.