Benfica fall to Real Madrid, racism claim against Prestianni | OneFootball

The alleged insults by Prestianni towards Vinícius Júnior – who accuses the Benfica player of calling him a "monkey" – marked the first leg between the Eagles and Real Madrid and dominated the conversations after the match.

Kylian Mbappé stood out among the most critical, not hiding his indignation in the mixed zone regarding the words he claims to have heard.

"The Benfica player, whose name I don't want to mention because he doesn't deserve it, started speaking poorly, which is also unacceptable in football, but it happens and will continue to happen. But then he covered his mouth with his shirt to call Vini a monkey five times. I heard it, there are Benfica players who also heard it, and after that, what everyone saw began," he stated.

The French international further stated that only the alleged perpetrator of the episode should be held accountable, avoiding unfair generalizations about others.

"I don't want to speak in general terms because I've come to Portugal many times, I've been fortunate to have many Portuguese teammates and friends, and nothing ever happened to me. In these kinds of situations, it's very important to speak clearly and say that there are many people who did nothing wrong. And in the stadium, there were 70,000 people who did nothing but support the team," he said, then arguing that Prestianni should not play in the Champions League again.

"I have the utmost respect for Benfica and their coach, who is one of the best in history, but this player does not deserve to play in the Champions League again, which is a wonderful thing. This is a competition that excites everyone, us players, journalists, fans. We must set the best example for young people, and if we let this kind of thing happen, the values of football mean nothing. Something must be done," he concluded.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.