Barcelona's Lamine Yamal is racially abused at the Bernabeu stadium

The 17-year-old midfielder was targeted during the Clasico between Real Madrid and Barcelona on Saturday.

Real Madrid have launched an investigation into racist insults against players during Saturday’s home loss to Barcelona in LaLiga.

Spanish media reported that 17-year-old Barcelona forward Lamine Yamal, who is of Equatorial Guinean and Moroccan descent, was the target of xenophobic and racist abuse at the Bernabéu. Barcelona did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters news agency.

“Real Madrid strongly condemns any behavior linked to racism, xenophobia or violence in football and sport, and deeply regrets the insults expressed by some fans last night in one of the corners of the stadium,” Real said on Sunday in a statement.

The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and LaLiga have taken steps to tackle the rise in racist abuse, including partial closures of stadiums.

Four people were arrested and interrogated in Spain on Thursday on suspicion of waging an online hate campaign encouraging fans to attack Brazilian striker Vinicius Jr. of Real Madrid racially abused in the build-up to their match against Atletico Madrid last month.

In June, the Valencia court handed down the first conviction for racist insults at a football stadium in Spain.