UEFA has provisionally suspended Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni for one match after he was accused of directing a racist comment at Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior during their Champions League clash.
The suspension means Prestianni will miss Wednesday’s second leg in Madrid while an investigation continues. Benfica say they will appeal, though they acknowledge the timing makes it “unlikely to have any practical effect.”
The incident happened after Vinicius Jr gave Real the lead in Lisbon. He celebrated in front of Benfica fans—earning a yellow card—when Prestianni approached him, pulled his shirt over his mouth, and said something. Vinicius immediately ran to the referee, who stopped the game and activated FIFA’s anti-racism protocol.
Vinicius later posted on Instagram: “Racists are, above all, cowards. They need to put their shirts over their mouths to demonstrate how weak they are.”
Prestianni denies the allegation. In a statement, he said Vinicius “regrettably misunderstood what he thought he heard.” Benfica shared footage of the incident, suggesting Real players were too far away to have heard clearly.
But Real’s Kylian Mbappe was unequivocal after the game. Mbappe said Prestianni no longer deserves to play in the Champions League. “If we let this kind of thing happen, all the values of football are worthless.” "I want to try and explain it calmly. I don't want to speak in a general manner. I have come to Portugal many times. I have been lucky to have many teammates and friends from Portugal, and nothing has ever happened to me.
"With these kinds of things, it's very important to speak in a very clear way, and to not speak in general, because there are people who haven't done anything wrong. In the stadium, I think 70,000 people haven't done anything wrong. They just wanted to support their team.
"I have the maximum respect for Benfica and their manager, who is one of the best in history, who has made history at Real Madrid.
"But this player, for me, doesn't deserve to play in the Champions League anymore.
Benfica manager Jose Mourinho, sent off during the first leg and suspended for the return, has faced criticism for his response. He told reporters he didn’t “believe in one or another” account, and pointed out that Benfica’s greatest player, Eusebio, was Black. “This club, the last thing that it is, is racist.”
He also suggested Vinicius attracts incidents wherever he plays—a comment that landed awkwardly given the forward’s long history of being targeted. Three Valencia fans were jailed last year for racially abusing him. Others have been convicted for hanging an effigy of him from a bridge.
Vinicius, visibly upset during the stoppage in Lisbon, later wrote: “Nothing that happened here today was new in my life and my family’s.”
