Two days before the second leg, UEFA provisionally suspends Benfica player Prestianni. He is alleged to have racially insulted Real's Brazilian Vinícius Júnior in the first leg.
23.02.2026, 15:42
23.02.2026, 15:48
dpa
Following the alleged racist incident in the first leg of the Champions League play-off, Argentinian professional footballer Gianluca Prestianni of Benfica Lisbon has been provisionally suspended for the second leg at Real Madrid. This was decided by the Disciplinary and Ethics Committee of the European Football Union (UEFA) ahead of this Wednesday's match.
This applies irrespective of any decisions that the UEFA disciplinary bodies may take following the conclusion of the ongoing investigation and its submission to the UEFA disciplinary bodies, UEFA also announced. The reason given by the continental association for the provisional suspension was a prima facie violation of Article 14 of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations in connection with discriminatory behavior.
The incident occurred on Tuesday last week. According to his own statements and those of his French team-mate Kylian Mbappé, Vinícius Júnior was allegedly racially insulted after scoring the 1-0 victory and celebrating afterwards. Prestianni is said to have called the Brazilian a monkey. The Argentinian denies the allegations, in the scene he had pulled his shirt over his mouth.
