Real Madrid’s Champions League knockout play-off match at Benfica was halted for 10 minutes on Tuesday after forward Vinícius Júnior accused opponent Gianluca Prestianni of racially abusing him following his goal in the 1-0 win.
The Brazilian had just scored a curling finish to put Madrid ahead in the 50th minute at the Estádio da Luz in Lisbon when he celebrated in front of Benfica supporters.
He was shown a yellow card for excessive celebration and then confronted by Prestianni, who appeared to say something to him while covering his mouth with his shirt.
Vinícius immediately ran to French referee François Letexier and pointed at Prestianni. Letexier crossed his arms above his head to signal the activation of FIFA’s anti-racism protocol and stopped the match.
The 25-year-old sat in the dugout while the game was paused, speaking with both Madrid coach Álvaro Arbeloa and Benfica manager José Mourinho.
Real Madrid were prepared to leave the pitch if Vinícius wanted to, but the match resumed after around 10 minutes.
“Racists are, above all, cowards,” Vinícius wrote on Instagram after the match.
“They need to put their shirts over their mouths to demonstrate how weak they are. But they have, on their side, the protection of others who, theoretically, have the obligation to punish.”
He criticised what he called a “poorly executed protocol that served no purpose” and said he received a yellow card for celebrating but did not understand why.
Prestianni denies allegations
Prestianni denied making racist comments in a statement on Instagram.
“I want to clarify that at no time did I direct racist insults to Vini Jr, who regrettably misunderstood what he thought he heard,” the 20-year-old Argentinian wrote.
“I was never racist with anyone and I regret the threats I received from Real Madrid players.”
Benfica published a video on social media in the early hours of Wednesday morning claiming the distance between the players meant Madrid’s squad could not have heard what they said they heard. The post drew criticism from supporters online.
Benfica midfielder Leandro Barreiro said Prestianni told teammates he had provoked Vinícius but never used racist language.
“I asked him and he said it was a normal provocation between players during a match,” Barreiro said. “He said it was nothing racist.”
Madrid players back Vinícius
Real Madrid teammates supported Vinícius’s account. Kylian Mbappé told TNT Sports Brasil that Prestianni “told Vini five times that he’s a monkey” and said the Argentinian “doesn’t deserve to play in the best competition, which is the Champions League”.
Midfielder Aurélien Tchouaméni told Movistar that Vinícius had told the team Prestianni called him a monkey. His teammate Federico Valverde said, “If you cover your mouth to say something, it means what you’re saying isn’t right.”
Right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold called the incident “a disgrace to football” and said Vinícius had been subjected to similar abuse several times during his career.
Arbeloa said, “Tolerance for racism has to be zero. Things like that can’t happen on a pitch in 2026.”
Mourinho draws criticism
Mourinho faced backlash for comments that appeared to suggest Vinícius had provoked the incident through his celebration.
“When you score a goal like that, you celebrate in a respectful way,” the Portuguese coach told Amazon Prime. “They told me different things. But I don’t believe in one or another. I want to be independent.”
Mourinho also referenced previous incidents in which Vinícius has been subjected to racist abuse in Spain, suggesting the player’s behaviour may have contributed.
“When he was arguing about racism, I told him the biggest person Eusébio in the history of this club was black,” Mourinho said. “This club, the last thing that it is, is racist.”
“To Vinícius, on the pitch, I said: ‘You scored a goal from another world, why are you celebrating like that? Why don’t you celebrate like Di Stéfano, Pelé or Eusébio? Why don’t you just celebrate the goal with the joy of being a player from another world?” Mourinho explained.
The match also saw objects thrown at Vinícius from the crowd, prompting a stadium announcement warning fans not to throw items onto the pitch.
A member of Benfica’s coaching staff was shown a red card during the stoppage, and Mourinho himself was sent off later in the match for a separate incident.
UEFA to open probe
UEFA said it was analysing official match reports and would open investigations if anything was reported. “If they lead to disciplinary sanctions, these will be announced on the UEFA website,” the governing body said.
Under UEFA regulations, any player found to have insulted an opponent with racist remarks faces a suspension of at least 10 matches.
Vinícius has filed 18 legal complaints over racist abuse directed at him since 2022. In June 2024, three Valencia supporters were jailed for eight months for racially abusing him during a La Liga match in May 2023, the first conviction of its kind in Spain.
The two sides meet again in the second leg of the play-off at the Santiago Bernabéu on 26 February.