Real Madrid have also suffered a setback in the league after their painful exit from the Champions League. Spain's record football champions lost the heated duel at relegation-threatened Valencia FC 0-1 (0-1) on Sunday and thus also second place to city rivals Atletico. However, the game was overshadowed by repeated racist insults against Real's Vinicius Junior.

In the second half, there was an interruption of several minutes after the Brazilian was racially abused by a supporter of the hosts. Vinicius then stood in front of the fan corner and pointed to the culprit. The game did not resume until the stadium announcer made an announcement to stop the insults.

"The championship now belongs to the racists"

"This was not the first time, not the second and not the third time," Vinicius complained on Twitter: "Racism is normal in La Liga. The competition thinks it's normal, the federation thinks it's normal too, and the opponents promote it. I very much regret that. The championship that once belonged to Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Cristiano and Messi now belongs to the racists." In Brazil, Spain is "known as a country of racists," he wrote.

The interruption resulted in 15 minutes of injury time, in which Vinicius was shown the red card (90+7) for an assault. The winger, who has often been the victim of racial insults in recent months, had apparently beaten Hugo Duro in the midst of Valencia's pack formation.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva strongly condemned the racist hostility against Vinicius Junior. On the sidelines of the G7 summit in Japan, the 77-year-old called for "serious measures" not to allow "fascism and racism to take over football stadiums. It's not fair that a boy from a poor background makes it in life, becomes one of the best players in the world and is now being insulted in every stadium where he performs," Lula said.

Real coach Carlo Ancelotti also spoke clearly at the post-match press conference: "It's unacceptable. The Spanish league has a problem with racism – a very serious problem," said the Italian. Meanwhile, the former Brazilian world footballer Ronaldo criticized on Twitter the "inaction of the federation and those responsible" and wrote: "As long as there is impunity and toleration, there will be racism here."

LaLiga president Javier Tebas told Vinicius on Twitter: "Before you criticize and slander LaLiga, you need to inform yourself properly. Don't let yourself be manipulated and make sure you understand each other's competencies and the work we've done together." Tebas criticised the striker for not appearing on any of the agreed dates. The league announced that it would investigate the incident. "If a hate crime is detected, we will take the appropriate legal action," it said.

After arch-rivals FC Barcelona secured the championship ahead of schedule, Real are only in second place. However, Atletico won it three rounds before the end with an unchallenged 3-0 (1-0) against CA Osasuna. Valencia moved up to 13th place in the thrilling battle against relegation with their second consecutive victory. The lead over the first relegation rank is five points.

Paris Saint-Germain, meanwhile, can hardly take the championship title in the French league. The star ensemble around Kylian Mbappé and Lionel Messi prevailed 2-1 (2-0) at AJ Auxerre on Sunday evening. Two matchdays before the end of the season, leaders PSG are six points ahead of pursuers RC Lens in the table. This means that a draw at Racing Strasbourg next Saturday is enough to win the next championship early.

However, Roger Schmidt missed out on winning the championship in Portugal with Benfica. The German coach did not get beyond a 2-2 (0-2) draw with the league leaders on Sunday in the derby at city rivals Sporting. Nevertheless, Schmidt and his team still have the winning of the first championship title since 2019 in their own hands. To do so, Benfica must win the final game of the season next weekend against bottom-of-the-table Santa Clara.