Gianluca Prestianni to claim he retaliated after Vinicius Jr used insult during game

Gianluca Prestianni will reportedly claim that his confrontation with Vinicius Jr during the Champions League clash between Real Madrid and Benfica was sparked by comments over his height.

On Monday, UEFA confirmed in a statement that Prestianni would be provisionally suspended for Benfica's Champions League play-off second leg against Madrid on Wednesday (February 25).

Shortly after scoring the opening goal of the first leg on Tuesday (February 17), Vinicius approached referee Francois Letexier, who proceeded to make the crossed arms gesture to signal racist abuse.

After the full-time whistle, Vinicius accused Gianluca Prestianni of racial abuse. "Racists are, above all, cowards. They need to put their shirts in their mouths to show how weak they are," he wrote on Instagram.

Vinícius complained to the referee that Prestianni had used the word “mono”, or monkey, towards him.

Vinicius Junior reported the incident to match referee Francois Letexier. Image credit: Getty

Prestianni, who was seen speaking to the Brazilian forward with his shirt over his mouth, denied making a racist slur and has since claimed he said “maricon”, a homophobic slur, according to The Times.

Racial abuse and homophobic language are breaches of Article 14 of the UEFA disciplinary rules. It has been suggested that Prestianni could be banned for up to ten games.

The above report goes on to suggest that Prestianni's defence will be that the confrontation was sparked by Vinicius after he referred to the 5ft 5in forward as a 'dwarf or midget'.

Vinicius Junior claims he was racially abused by Gianluca Prestianni. Image: Getty

Vinicius' teammate Kylian Mbappe believes Prestianni should be banned from the Champions League.

"We cannot accept that there is a player in Europe's top football competition who behaves like this. This guy (Prestianni) doesn't deserve to play in the Champions League anymore," Mbappe told reporters.

"We have to set an example for all the children watching us at home. What happened today is the kind of thing we cannot accept because the world is watching us."

Mbappe added: “I called him racist because I think he is. He tried to hide behind his shirt but his face doesn’t lie. A young player cannot have the freedom to say things like this on a football field.”

A UEFA investigation is currently taking place. Prestianni could face up to a 10-game ban if found guilty.