McCarthy, who won the Champions League under Mourinho at Porto in 2004, acknowledged that emotions may have influenced his former boss's comments but stated: "The statement he made was very wrong. But we're all human, we all make mistakes." Vinicius Jr. scored the only goal in Real Madrid's 1-0 victory and was booked for his celebration before alleging racist abuse from Benfica's winger Gianluca Prestianni, which UEFA is investigating.
Mourinho, who was sent off during the match, had defended Benfica against racism allegations. Vinicius later posted on Instagram: "Racists are, above all, cowards." Meanwhile, Chelsea's Liam Rosenior called for a zero-tolerance policy against racism in football, stating: "If any player, any coach or any manager is found guilty of racism, they shouldn't be in the game."