On Tuesday night, Real Madrid travelled to Lisbon to face Benfica in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League knockout round.
The match ended with Real Madrid taking the win away from home, 1:0, with the advantage going into the second leg at the Santiago Bernabeu next Wednesday.
The game wasn’t discussed because of a Tchouameni masterclass that earned him man of the match or the beautiful curved goal by Vinicius Junior, but rather for all the wrong reasons.
What exactly happened during the game?
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After scoring in the 50th minute of the game, Vinicius was booked for the celebration of his goal, and from here on, things took a wild turn.
As the game was about to restart, Vinicius went to the referee and reported that he had heard racist slurs from Gianluca Prestianni. The referee immediately invoked the racism protocol, introduced in 2009, and the game was halted for about 10 minutes.
After which Vinicius was in the dugout having discussions alongside his coach, Arbeloa, whom he and his teammates had agreed to walk off the pitch if he wanted to, according to Guillem Balague and Benfica coach Jose Mourinho, who, according to the BBC, informed Amazon Prime, “I told (Vinicius), when you score a goal like that, you just celebrate and walk back. When he was arguing about racism, I told him the biggest person in the history of this club (Eusebio) was Black.”
“This club, the last thing that it is, is racist. If in his mind there was something in relation to that, this is Benfica.”
What was said to Vinicius?
Gianluca Prestianni had allegedly called Vinicius “Mono”, a Spanish word that translates to “Monkey” in English, which is obviously a racist slur, as it is basically dehumanising a person because of their skin colour.
This is not the first time this particular word has been said to Vinicius, as during his eight-year stint at Real Madrid, the Brazilian. According to the BBC, Vini has been racially abused 20 times in his Real Madrid career.
The Real Madrid forward has been racially abused by rival fans, like in the Barcelona incident in October 2021 and on multiple occasions, the Mallorca incident in March 2022, and by Atletico Madrid fans waving racist slurs at him outside the stadium on multiple occasions. Against Valencia at the Mestalla, he was sent off on one occasion in 2023. In late 2022 and 2023, the Brazilian international was also abused in games against Real Valladolid, Real Betis, Mallorca, Sevilla and Osasuna.
A few of these alleged incidents resulted in prosecutions, fines, and even bans from stadiums for future games.
How did the Benfica staff and player(s) respond?
Firstly, Gianluca Prestianni has come to deny such claims, stating that he was “regrettably misunderstood by Vinicius“. Benfica also released a statement claiming that the distance the players stood is not enough to hear what the players (Mbappe and Vinicius) heard.
Benfica released a separate statement on its official website, claiming that Prestianni has been the subject of defamation. The statement also expressed the club’s full support for Prestianni and stated that Benfica is not a racist club and has always acted in line with its values, showing nothing but respect and equality.
A teammate of his, Fredrik Aursnes, told CBS that he believes his teammate’s version of the story, and that his teammate, Samuel Dahl, criticised Vinicius’s post-goal celebration.
However, according to Bein Sports, Anderson Luis Da Silva, who is a former player for the Portuguese giants, spoke out, saying, “It was a racist act, yes, and I’m ashamed of it. I defend the shirt, and I have experience; I know what I’m talking about.”
He also added, ” I’m just saying that Benfica is too big to be involved in this, whether it’s true or not. ” Although from experience, I know the truth.”
According to Bein Sports, since these comments, he has received backlash from fans, who called him a “monkey and Judas” and told him he isn’t welcome at Estádio da Luz again.
Lastly, Mourinho’s comments were seen as gaslighting and were called out by Kick It Out, an independent organisation founded in 1993 to combat discrimination.
Credit: Kick it out official X account
Personally, I find his comments misleading and am quite shocked that this came from someone like Jose Mourinho. Vinicius celebrating a goal should never warrant any form of racist slur.
How did the Real Madrid coach and players react?
After the game, Vinicius posted on his Instagram story, saying, “They need to cover their mouths with their shirts to show how weak they are.”
Real Madrid head coach Arbeloa also said in his post-game conference that tolerance has to be zero, and such shouldn’t persist in 2026.
From the Guardian, Trent Alexander-Arnold also called the events “a disgrace”. The team skipper, Federico Valverde, said,:“If you cover your mouth to say something, it’s because it’s not right. It’s lamentable. The insult is very serious, and it has happened lots of times to Vinícius.”
Mbappé claimed that he heard Prestianni mutter the racist slur five times and called Prestianni a racist. Mbappé also called for him to be banned from the competition.
However, Real Madrid confirmed in their statement that all evidence has been submitted, and UEFA has launched an investigation following the racism debacle, and according to the UEFA regulations, Article 14, if he (Gianluca Prestianni) is found guilty, he will face a minimum of a 10-match ban, and possibly other sanctions could follow.
Who has supported Vinicius?
Many public figures have come out in support of Vinicius, including his former club, Flamengo.
These public figures include FIFA’s president, Gianni Infantino, who said he was “shocked and saddened to see the incident of alleged racism towards Vinicius Junior.” Kick It Out also criticised Mourinho. Vincent Kompany criticised Mourinho and supported Vinicius, stating the emotions cannot be faked, and Chelsea Head Coach Liam Rosenior called for a ban on any racist.
Both Jamie Carragher and Clarence Seedorf dismissed the provocative logic, and Carragher labelled Mourinho’s comments as hypocritical.
Other public figures that expressed their support for Vinicius and criticised the situation include Thierry Henry, who “could relate” and emphasised the mouth covering, and Joe Cole and Karen Carney, who are TNT Sport analysts and also emphasised the mouth covering.
Why is Vinicius always targeted?
The first reason I’d say he is targeted is that he’s spoken about it many times. In 2023, he became the global figurehead in the fight against racism in football, which has led to a FIFA anti-racism committee.
The second reason, I’d say, is his personality; he is a very provocative player and has that personality to wind up a lot of opposition fans.
Lastly, it’s because he is world-class. Before 2021, when he was still trying to find his footing at Madrid, he didn’t get racially abused, and from the instances I gave earlier on, most of it started in 2021 when he was putting up elite numbers and terrorising opposition players.
My Thoughts…
A lot of people online have been arguing about this and are trying to excuse such a disgraceful act, and logically, the fact that he had to cover his mouth really made him look guilty.
You’d want to make an excuse about being misheard; two players heard the same thing you said, and not one person, and the reaction from Vini and Mbappe gave the whole thing away. What will Vinicius have against Gianluca Prestianni to want to make the whole thing up? against a 20-year-old?!
It’s an established fact that Vinicius is a very provocative player, and the answer should never be racism. There are ways to deal with provocative personalities, but the answer should never be to dehumanise them. Banter and jabs are part of the game, and there’s a line everyone should not cross.
This is bigger than football and should have no place in our society; for crying out loud, it’s 2026!! And yet it has still been normalised in some situations.
For a change to occur, everyone needs to wake up and speak out when being oppressed; it won’t lead to a demise if we don’t speak out and collaborate in combating racism.
Kick It Out!