Champions League decision made as Vinicius Jr's alleged abuser receives Real Madrid ban verdict

Vinicius Junior of Real Madrid speaks to Jose Mourinho, Head Coach of Benfica, after a clash with Gianluca Prestianni during the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 League Knockout Play-off First Leg match between SL Benfica and Real Madrid C.F. at Estadio do SL Benfica on February 17, 2026 in Lisbon, Portugal. — Vinicius argued with Jose Mourinho on the touchline (Image credit: Octavio Passos - UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)

Benfica winger Gianluca Prestianni will remain suspended for tonight’s Champions League clash with Real Madrid after his UEFA ban was upheld.

Argentinian Prestianni allegedly racially abused Vinicius Junior in the first leg of the teams’ Champions League knockout play-off tie, but continued to play on in the 1-0 loss.

Prestianni's suspension could get worse

Benfica’s appeal against the decision has been thrown out a matter of hours before kick-off, with Benfica admitting the appeal would not ‘have any practical effect’ at such short notice.

However, the ban remains a provisional one, subject to an investigation by an ethics and disciplinary inspector, who has the authority to issue further punishment.

Gianluca Prestianni confronts Vinicius Junior — Gianluca Prestianni spoke directly to Vinicius with his shirt over his mouth (Image credit: Getty Images)

On Tuesday, the game was temporarily stopped in the 60th minute after Vinicius celebrated around the corner flag when he had put Los Blancos 1-0 up with a sumptuous strike from a narrow angle.

Prestianni then covered his mouth with his shirt when conversing with Vinicius at the centre circle. Something said between the pair elicited a shocked response from the goalscorer, who immediately alerted referee Francois Letexier to the alleged abuse.

Play was stopped for around 10 minutes in accordance with UEFA’s protocol, during which some fans in the Estadio da Luz were seen making racist gestures towards the winger.

After the match, Benfica manager Jose Mourinho suggested Vinicius was to blame for the abuse due to his inflammatory celebration. Mourinho is banned from the second leg for incendiary remarks towards the officials during the match.

Following the match, Benfica released sideline footage of the incident, seemingly suggesting that Vinicius would have been unable to hear the alleged slur since he was too far away from Prestianni, who would admit to using a derogatory remark after the match.

Santiago Bernabeu, 2025 — The Bernabeu will host the tie's second leg tonight (Image credit: Getty Images)

During his time in Spain, 25-year-old Vinicius has been subject to 20 separate racist incidents from fans and media personalities alike.

His continued stand against racism has unfortunately rendered him the most likely target for abuse, of which instances continue to occur.

Last weekend alone, four Premier League footballers were subject to racist abuse on social media.

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Joseph is a current News Associates trainee studying for his NCTJ qualification after graduating from Durham University with a Physics degree. He spends his free time watching any sport he can find on TV and explaining how his degree is applicable to sports journalism to his family. Joseph supports Arsenal and has years of past FourFourTwo magazines storage, but has written on over 20 sports for publications such as The Mirror, LondonWorld, and Yahoo.com.

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