New footage of Gianluca Prestianni incident with Vini Jr not shown on TV emerges

A new angle of the incident involving Vinicius Jr and Gianluca Prestianni has emerged following the Champions League clash between Real Madrid and Benfica.

Vinícius scored the only goal of the game on Tuesday night as Real Madrid came out on top at the Estadio de Luz, but the knockout phase play-off match was overshadowed by alleged racist abuse.

As he celebrated his goal in the 50th minute, Vinicius was embroiled in a heated exchange with Benfica's Gianluca Prestianni, who appeared to have uttered something while covering his mouth with his shirt.

Moments later, a visibly emotional Vinicius reported the incident to referee Francois Letexier, who made the crossed arms gesture to signal racist abuse.

After the game, Vinicius said in an Instagram post that "racists are cowards", while Prestianni denied making a racist slur. "I was never racist with anyone and I regret the threats I received from Real Madrid players," he added.

As the fallout continues from Tuesday night's clash in Portugal, TNT Sports have shared an alternative angle of the incident, as seen in the clip below.

@tntsports pic.twitter.com/Fp4yhjWbg9

— ' (@YrcQo) February 18, 2026

Benfica's official social media channel has also responded to the racism allegations.

On social media platform X, the @SLBenfica account shared fan footage of Real Madrid players preparing for the game to get back underway and Vinicius Jr sprinting to the official to make the racism complaint.

In addition the video, the club claimed: "As the images demonstrate, given the distance, the Real Madrid players could not have heard what they claim to have heard."

Como demonstram as imagens, dada a distância, os jogadores do Real Madrid não podem ter ouvido o que andam a dizer que ouviram. pic.twitter.com/7JF9AVuhEM

— SL Benfica (@SLBenfica) February 18, 2026

UEFA have since confirmed that the reviewing of reports from Tuesday night's Champions League games is still ongoing and any potential disciplinary sanctions will be announced on their official website.

"The official reports from the matches played last night are currently being reviewed," UEFA said in a statement.

"Where matters are reported, proceedings are opened and should they lead to disciplinary sanctions being imposed, they are announced on the UEFA disciplinary website."

They added: "We have no further information to provide you or any further comment to make on this matter at this stage."