Gianluca Prestianni has spoken out against Real Madrid in a now-deleted tweet just hours before the Champions League play-off second leg at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Despite the Brazilian scoring an impressive strike to secure a 1-0 victory for Real Madrid, last Tuesday’s (February 17) Champions League first leg in Lisbon was overshadowed by allegations that Prestianni racially abused Vinicius.
Shortly after the Real Madrid forward’s goal, he ran towards referee Francois Letexier, who then crossed his arms, signalling that the anti-racism protocol had come into effect.
Vinicius, alongside several of his team-mates, left the field of play for 10 minutes before consulting with the Benfica bench.
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Around 10 minutes later, the game resumed. However, after the match, several Real players, including Vinicius, spoke out, with Kylian Mbappe claiming that he heard Prestianni say the word “monkey”.
The Benfica winger has denied the allegations and suggested that what he said had been “misinterpreted”.
Vinicius posted a statement on social media describing racists as “cowards” while also saying that what happened was “nothing new” in his life.
On Monday (February 23), UEFA confirmed that Prestianni had been provisionally suspended for one match before Benfica launched an appeal.
UEFA released a further statement on Wednesday (February 25), confirming that Benfica’s appeal had been rejected, meaning Prestianni was not permitted to be added to the matchday squad for the second leg despite travelling to Madrid. The Argentine also trained on the pitch with the rest of the squad on Tuesday (February 24).
An investigation is ongoing, and Prestianni will face a much more severe punishment, including a possible 10-match ban, if he is found guilty by the UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body.
Also on Wednesday, Prestianni took to social media and reposted a video of Fede Valverde striking Benfica full-back Samuel Dahl in the face during the first leg of the tie.
A foul was given, but the Real Madrid man suffered no further punishment despite suggestions that the act could be deemed violent conduct.
As per IFAB rules, which UEFA uses during matches, violent conduct is defined as “when a player uses or attempts to use excessive force or brutality against an opponent when not challenging for the ball, or against a team-mate, team official, match official, spectator or any other person, regardless of whether contact is made”.
Striking an opponent in the face would be classed as violent conduct, which usually warrants a three- to five-match ban.
Responding to a clip of the incident, Prestianni wrote: “Throwing a punch without the ball is allowed, it’s obvious, and there’s no penalty.
“Issuing penalties without evidence is also allowed, it’s obvious.
“They’re not even trying to hide it any more with Real Madrid. They’re a disgrace.”
The 20-year-old has since deleted the post.
Topics: Champions League, Real Madrid, UEFA, Vinicius Junior
Luke Davies