Vinicius Junior celebrated Real Madrid's Copa del Rey quarter-final victory over Atletico Madrid on Thursday by hitting back after an effigy of him was hung from a bridge.
A dummy dressed in a Vinicius shirt was strung up near Real Madrid's training ground overnight before the game with a message reading "Madrid hates Real."
Both Real Madrid and Atletico, as well as La Liga and the Spanish football federation, condemned the incident; Real described the effigy as a "disgusting act of racism, xenophobia and hatred" while coach Carlo Ancelotti said it was "very regrettable".
"There's only one Madrid. We all know," Brazil international Vinicius wrote on Twitter after his side eliminated their city rivals to reach the semi-finals.
The forward drifted in and out of the match but netted at the end of extra-time to secure a 3-1 win for his team at the Bernabeu. "I think the goal was his reward for his great work," Ancelotti told a press conference.
The spiky, gripping derby clash turned against Diego Simeone's side in extra time when defender Stefan Savic was sent off.
Atletico took the lead through Alvaro Morata after 19 minutes but Rodrygo's sensational slalom run past three defenders and slick finish pulled Madrid level with 11 minutes remaining.
After Savic's 99th minute red card, Karim Benzema tucked home from Marco Asensio's pass and Vinicius netted at the death to send Los Blancos through to the final four for the first time since 2019.
"Today we had a very difficult game but with the character and the players that we have, we were able to turn it around," Benzema told Teledeporte.
"Suffering is not good — we have to score the goals earlier."
Atletico players claimed that Real midfielder Dani Ceballos should have been sent off earlier when he fouled Geoffrey Kondogbia while on a yellow card.
"I think it was a red [for Savic], but they should have had one too when we were 1-0 up," complained Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak.
"They could have had a second yellow but [the referee] decided it how he decided, we are used to that, and it's complicated, but the team fought to the end, we did everything to score."
Despite their improving performances, the rest of Atletico's season is looking barren, given they were eliminated from the Champions League at the group stage and are 13 points behind La Liga leaders Barcelona, having played a game more.
"We are out of Europe and now the cup, the team has the second half of the season ahead of them to try and qualify for the Champions League, that's the objective the club needs," said Simeone, who cast some doubt on his future.
The Argentine coach has been at the club since 2011 and has a contract until 2024.
"After that, calmly, we will look at what is convenient for everyone," he continued.
"Being at Atletico gives me enormous joy, I will give 1,000 percent until the day that I leave."
Earlier Athletic Bilbao won 3-1 at Valencia to join record 31-time winners Barcelona and Osasuna in Monday's semi-final draw.
