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When the Real Madrid star came on in the 59th minute, the Mallorca fans began chanting against him, as is often the case in many Spanish stadiums.

The rivalry between him and Real Mallorca’s Pablo Mafio also flared up again, with the pair clashing verbally and physically on more than one occasion.

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The newspaper Marca reported: “Mafio, the Spanish player of Argentine origin, was constantly on the lookout for Vinícius and never took long to find him. In ‘Viní’s’ first game against Mafio, he was forced to concede a corner, but the referee awarded a goal kick, prompting the Real Madrid player to protest.”

It added: “That was enough for Mafio to start the verbal confrontation, telling the Brazilian player, ‘There you go, talking’.”

Marca continued: “He said something along those lines to him, whilst gesturing with his hand to indicate the movement of the ball.”

Marca reported, citing Movistar, that the Mallorca player said the word ‘beach’ to Vinícius whilst gesturing towards the ball – the two words together meaning ‘beach football’ – in order to provoke the Brazilian as much as possible.

It added: “The tension between the players continued after this incident, albeit to a lesser degree than on other occasions during the match, but they were still bumping into each other whenever they met.”

This reference did not come about by chance; it began around a year and a half ago in many stadiums across Spain, where fans target Vinícius with the mocking chant “Beach ball… idiot, idiot”, to remind him of losing the Ballon d’Or to Manchester City star Rodri.

The chant implies that Rodri received the Ballon d’Or he deserved, whilst Vinícius deserves the “beach ball”.

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What happened today between Vinícius and Mafio was not a spur-of-the-moment incident, but rather the latest chapter in an ongoing feud and a series of skirmishes between them dating back to the 2022–23 season.

There have been numerous clashes between the players in the past, the most notable of which was when Mafio confronted Vinícius and accused him of being a ‘crybaby’ through mocking gestures, as if wiping away tears, implying that the Brazilian star complains too much and puts pressure on the referees.

The Mallorca defender escalated the feud with Vinícius in January 2025 on the sidelines of their Copa del Rey semi-final clash.

Speaking at the time about his feud with Vinícius, in response to a question about the hypothetical prospect of a boxing match between them, Mafio told the newspaper Sport: “It would be the most-watched in history, but I’d win it, of course. I’d finish him off in 10 seconds.”

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