Real Madrid players wore No. 20 shirts to the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday night ahead of their La Liga match against Rayo Vallecano.
It is the same squad number of their offensive player, Vinicius Junior, who was subjected to racial taunts during a weekend game against Valencia.
The players of the Spanish giants, Real Madrid, wore the shirt to support the Brazilian, who was dismissed for retaliating against the abuse in their previous La Liga game.
Real Madrid walked out of the tunnel in No. 20 shirts before their match against Rayo Vallecano to line up for pictures because of the number of media outlets available in support of Vinicius Junior, who was subjected to racial abuse during a game at the weekend.
Vinicius was in the stands at the Bernabeu and received a standing ovation in the 20th minute of the game against Vallecano, which he gratefully acknowledged with a wave.
Valencia’s Mestalla stadium’s south stand has been closed for five matches as retaliation for the racial abuse, and seven people have been arrested concerning the incident and events that followed the match on Sunday.
As part of a joint campaign by the federation and La Liga, a banner in one stand at Santiago Bernabeu read “We are all Vinicius, enough already!” while players held up another message reading “Racists, out of football.”
The winger who scored against Manchester City at the Bernabeu was spotted watching the game from Madrid’s presidential box, alongside Real Madrid President Florentino Perez.
Vinicius could return to action for Real Madrid against Europa League finalists Sevilla on Saturday, according to a statement from La Liga’s Competition Committee, which stated that the red card shown to Vinicius had been rescinded.
Players from all over the world have also expressed their support for Vinicius on social media in the wake of the incident, and his Brazilian teammate Raphinha also supported Vinicius during Barcelona’s defeat to Real Valladolid.
