Gianluca Prestianni will not be available for Benfica’s Champions League playoff at Real Madrid on Wednesday night after Uefa suspended him following allegations that he racially abused Vinícius Júnior during the first leg. The one‑game ban is a provisional measure as an investigation continues.
Benfica have said they will appeal and regret being “deprived” of the winger, but the club admitted they did not expect to be able to prevent the 20-year-old Argentinian from missing the second leg at the Santiago Bernabéu.
Uefa appointed an ethics and disciplinary inspector after Vinícius accused Prestianni of subjecting him to racist abuse at the Estádio da Luz last Tuesday, with Kylian Mbappé alleging he had heard Prestianni call Vinícius a “monkey” five times.
The game was delayed for 10 minutes after the Brazilian reported the alleged incident to the referee François Letexier, who activated the anti‑racism protocol but who had not heard anything himself. Prestianni had covered his mouth with his shirt when he addressed Vinícius.
Prestianni denied the accusation and Benfica defended their player, saying he was the “victim” of a “smear campaign”. A video that Benfica posted on X claimed to show that Madrid’s players could not have heard what they claimed to hear from the position in which they found themselves. Real Madrid said they had gathered all the available evidence and sent it to Uefa. Benfica’s head coach, José Mourinho, said Vinícius and Prestianni had told him different versions of events.
Uefa has now handed down a one-game punishment pending the conclusion of the investigation. Uefa said the current ban was “without prejudice to any ruling that the Uefa disciplinary bodies may subsequently make”. Prestianni could face a 10-game ban if found guilty. For now he will miss the second leg, which Benfica begin 1-0 down, thanks to Vinícius’s goal shortly after half-time.
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“The club regrets being deprived of the player while the process is still under investigation and will appeal this Uefa decision, even if the applicable timelines are unlikely to have any practical effect on the second leg of the Champions League playoff,” a Benfica statement read.
“Benfica also reaffirms its unwavering commitment to combating all forms of racism and discrimination – values that are part of its historical identity and reflected in its daily actions, its global community, the work of the Benfica Foundation, and major figures in the club’s history, such as Eusébio.”
After the first leg, the Madrid midfielder Aurélien Tchouaméni said that Prestianni had defended himself by claiming not to have used the word monkey but rather a homophobic slur, maricon. Reports suggested that Prestianni repeated that explanation during the investigation, although Uefa has not confirmed what stage the process is at and Prestianni’s agent, Gastón Fernández, denied it. The use of a homophobic slur would also probably result in a ban.
Fernández said: “Everything that has been published about what Gianluca Prestianni said in the Uefa investigations is false. We have made it clear that what happens wasn’t as they tried to present it or paint in relation to Gianluca. When everything is over we will think carefully about what the best decision is.”
Mourinho meanwhile has decided not to speak to the media either before or after the game. He was accused of “gaslighting” by the anti-racism body Kick It Out after he linked the way in which Vinícius Júnior had celebrated his winning goal to the incident in which he was allegedly abused.
Mourinho has been able to avoid media duties because he is serving a one-game touchline ban, having been sent off in Lisbon. His assistant João Tralhão will instead conduct the pre- and post-game press conferences and interviews.
