Real Madrid downplays Ceuta ‘cabballas’ shirt incident with Mbappé, Vinicius and Konaté

Real Madrid’s last-gasp win at Elche—decided by Carlos Espí in stoppage time—also brought up another talking point before kick-off. Both teams walked onto the pitch with a shirt supporting Ceuta, but the footage shows Elche players already had theirs on when they entered the field, while Real Madrid’s kits were handed out in the tunnel right before going out.

The shirt, but only partially

As Mundo Deportivo reports, three Real Madrid players didn’t display the shirt fully. Kylian Mbappé, Vinicius Jr. and Ibrahima Konaté took it from the equipment staff, but Mbappé and Vinicius only wore it up to shoulder height. Konaté, meanwhile, simply held it for a moment with his hands before removing it shortly after.

The message on the shirt read “Todos somos caballas,” in support of Ceuta. The article adds that the call comes in the wake of a large influx of people from Morocco into the autonomous city at the end of last July.

The club says it’s not a big deal

According to MD, Real Madrid don’t attach any particular importance to what happened. Their view is that each player puts on the shirt in the way he wants, and they believe—unlike other teams—that most of their players did wear it. On the specific case of Mbappé, Vinicius and Konaté, the paper says the club’s message is clear: you can’t force anyone to wear the shirt in a certain way.