Television replays showed that Vinicius reacted to something Prestianni had said while he had his shirt over his mouth, immediately running to the referee to report the incident, which led the official to halt proceedings. For several minutes, the Brazilian international sat in the dugout while the game was paused, and head coach Alvaro Arbeloa was spotted engaged in a deep conversation with the winger. Later on in the encounter, Vinicius was struck on the arm by an object thrown from the crowd. It is not the first time the player has been involved in crowd incidents, with the 25-year-old having a number of clashes with fans in Spain and previously the target of racist abuse on multiple occasions.
Madrid defender Trent Alexander-Arnold came to the defence of his team-mate after the clash, saying: "It's disgusting. What's happened tonight is a disgrace for football. It's ruined the night for the team." Head coach Arbeloa echoed the full-back's words, adding: "You have to ask Benfica's players, it is not a question for me. I think everyone can see what happened. What Vinny said is not important. What can I say? Of course we have to fight against this type of attitude. If we don't respect each other then that is a problem."