Vinicius Junior scored a sublime curling goal in Real Madrid’s win at Benfica on Tuesday, but attention quickly shifted to an alleged incident of racist abuse involving the Brazilian forward. The first leg of the Champions League play-off was suspended for 10 minutes, with players leaving the field after Vinicius informed referee Francois Letexier that Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni had called him a ‘monkey.’ Prestianni, the 20-year-old Argentine midfielder, appeared to cover his mouth with his shirt while speaking to Vinicius during the exchange. He has denied making any racist remark toward the Real Madrid player. According to an ESPN analysis, there have been at least 18 previous incidents of racism reported against the Brazilian striker, most of them in Spain, where he plays club football. Here is the timeline of previous instances of racial abuse against Vinicius: October 24, 2021: Monkey chants Substituted in the 87th minute with Madrid leading 1-0, Vinicius was racially abused by a fan shouting ‘monkey’ as he walked toward the bench. La Liga filed a complaint with Barcelona’s hate crime …