Benfica midfielder Gianluca Prestianni provisionally suspended for Real Madrid Champions League return leg

Benfica midfielder Gianluca Prestianni has been provisionally suspended by the UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body (CEDB) and will miss the second leg of the Champions League playoff against Real Madrid taking place on Wednesday at the Bernabeu. Prestianni has been at the center of a whirlwind centered around comments that he made to Madrid attacker Vinicius Junior after he scored the stunning and winning goal in Lisbon during the 1-0 win at the Estadio Da Luz. The game was interrupted for 10 minutes as Vini Jr. reported an alleged racial incident following comments from the Argentinian midfielder. According to multiple reports, Prestianni could potentially face a minimum 10-game ban from UEFA.  

French referee Francois Letexier made a gesture of crossed arms above his head, an initiative adopted by FIFA in 2024 to allow players and officials to signal that they believe racist abuse has taken place on the field. Television cameras caught Benfica forward Gianluca Prestianni speaking to Vinicius with his jersey covering his mouth and the Real Madrid man appeared to subsequently make reference to that while speaking to Letexier. 

Real Madrid superstar Vinicius Junior walks off field following alleged racist incident at Benfica

James Benge

Posting on his Instagram stories after the game, Vinicius said: "Racists are, above all, cowards. They need to put their shirts over their mouths to demonstrate how weak they are. But they have, on their side, the protection of others who, theoretically, have the obligation to punish. Nothing that happened today is new in my life and my family's. I received a yellow card for celebrating a goal. I still don't understand why. On the other hand, just a poorly executed protocol that served no purpose. I don't like appearing in situations like this, even more so after a great victory and when the headlines have to be about Real Madrid, but it's necessary."

Both FIFA and UEFA, among multiple soccer personalities around the world, have condemned the episode and the European governing body started an investigation on the matter. On Monday, ahead of the second leg that will take place at the Bernabeu on Wednesday, the UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body (CEDB) have confirmed the provisional suspension as investigations are still ongoing: "Following the appointment of a UEFA Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector (EDI) to investigate allegations of discriminatory behaviour during the UEFA Champions League 2025/2026 Knock-out Play-off match between SL Benfica and Real Madrid CF on 17 February 2026, and upon request of the EDI with an interim report, the UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body (CEDB) today decided to provisionally suspend Mr. Gianluca Prestianni for the next (1) UEFA club competition match for which he would otherwise be eligible for the prima facie violation of Article 14 of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations (DR) related to a discriminatory behaviour. This is without prejudice to any ruling that the UEFA disciplinary bodies may subsequently make following the conclusion of the ongoing investigation and its respective submission to the UEFA disciplinary bodies". 

Mourinho won't speak ahead of the game

Benfica manager Jose Mourinho was at the center of criticism for his after game remarks on the episode. The Special One also received a red card and will miss Wednesday's game and according to Sky Sports he won't attend the pre-match press conference ahead of the Real Madrid match. Speaking to the media after the first leg, Mourinho said: "I told Vinicius Jr, when you score a goal like that you just celebrate and walk back. When he was arguing about racism, I told him the biggest person in the history of this club [Eusebio] was black. This club, the last thing that it is, is racist."

Multiple soccer personalities criticised Mourinho for his words. Bayern Munich coach Vincent Kompany, for example, described his words as a "huge mistake." Kompany added: "Mourinho basically attacked Vinicius Jr.'s character by discrediting the type of celebration he did. That was a huge mistake in terms of leadership and something we should not accept. Do you know what black players had to go through in the 60s? Was he there to travel with Eusebio for every away game and see what he went through? At the time, the only option Eusebio had was probably to be quiet, say nothing and be ten times better just to get a little bit of credit," said Kompany during a press conference.