A former Arsenal star has taken to social media to apologise after he defended Valencia fans following vile racist abuse directed at Real Madrid star Vinicius Junior.
The match at the Mestalla was paused due to the Brazilian alerting the referee to 'monkey chants' being shouted from the packed crowd with Los Blancos eventually losing the game 1-0 in an encounter that was marred by the abuse.
Vinicius himself took to social media to relay his anger and frustration at another incident of racial hate directed at him and called on La Liga to take action.The 22-year-old was hit with a wave of support from the likes of Rio Ferdinand who condemned the abuse, but one former Arsenal defender, Gabriel Paulista, didn't cover himself in glory as after full time he snapped a picture of the stadium with the caption 'Mestalla, you're the best'.Vinicius tweeted after the game on the abuse:"It wasn't the first time, nor the second, nor the third.
Racism is normal in LaLiga. In football they think it's normal, the federation does too - and the opponent encourages it."I'm so sad.
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