In his first public comments since being suspended following a clash with Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior, Benfica forward Gianluca Prestianni defended himself and all his actions, shifting the focus onto his accusers and the supposedly false allegations of racism which “hurt” him and his family.
Shortly after celebrating a spectacular opening goal, Vinicius Jr stopped Madrid’s Champions League last-16 contest with Benfica in February to report a racial slur from Prestianni. The Brazilian forward accused his Argentine counterpart of calling him a “monkey.” Prestianni’s teammates, manager and Benfica as an institution forcefully defended the forward, whose exact words couldn’t be proven by an outside party as he was covering his mouth with his shirt at the time.
