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Barcelona fans chanted abuse about Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior as they headed to the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys for their game against PSG tonight (April 16).
The Catalan giants face the Parisians in the second leg of their UEFA Champions League quarterfinal. They hold a 3-2 lead on aggregate after an impressive win at the Parc des Princes in the first leg.
However, a section of Barcelona fans marched to their temporary home stadium and started a chant directed at Real Madrid star Vinicius (via Spanish outlet Carrusel Deportivo):
"Vinicius d*e."
You can watch the clip of Barca fans chanting below:
This comes amid a tense situation in La Liga regarding Vinicius being the victim of constant racist abuse. The Brazilian broke down in tears during the international break in March when asked about the racism he's received (via Sky News):
"I just want to play football but it's hard to move forward... I feel less and less like playing [due to the racist abuse]."
Barca fans are among La Liga club fans accused of targeting the 23-year-old with racist abuse. An image of a man making a racist gesture towards the Brazil international hit social media and the Catalans reacted by making a statement (via BBC Sport):
"FC Barcelona will always defend the values of football and sport, such as respect for the opponent, and we will investigate any racist insult that may have occurred."
The Blaugrana have the chance to advance to the semifinals of Europe's elite club competition tonight. They could lock horns with Vinicius' Real Madrid in the final at Wembley on June 1.
Barcelona apologized to Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior after a club director dismissed the racist abuse
One of Barcelona's board members Miquel Camps downplayed the racism Vinicius receives with a now-deleted post on X (formerly Twitter). He wrote in October:
"It's not racism, he deserves a slap for being a clown and a joker, what do those unnecessary and pointless stepovers in the middle of the pitch mean?"
Camps deleted the post soon after and Barca's vice president Rafa Yuste condemned the post as 'inappropriate'. He told Spanish Spanish TV channel Movistar (via ESPN):
"If Vinícius is listening to me, I want to say that this will not be repeated. Even if it was a mistake, it should not have been posted. It was an inappropriate [post]."
Camps isn't the only high-profile name in Spanish football to controversially comment on the situation. La Liga's own president Javier Tebas also apologized after he denied the Real Madrid star's claims that the Spanish league wasn't doing the utmost to stop the issue.
