Benfica lose to Real Madrid amid racism claim against Prestianni | OneFootball

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

Kylian Mbappé stood out among the most critical, not hiding his outrage in the mixed zone at 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 talking badly, which is also unacceptable in football, but it happens and will continue to happen. But then he put his shirt in front of his mouth to call Vini '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 also said that only the presumed author of the incident should be held responsible, avoiding unfair generalizations about others.

"I don't want to generalize, because I've come to Portugal many times, I was lucky to have many Portuguese teammates and friends and nothing ever happened to me. And in these kinds of situations, it's very important to speak clearly and say that there are many people who did nothing. And in the stadium, there were 70,000 people who did nothing except support the team," he said, later 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 have to set the best example for young people and if we let this kind of thing happen, the values of football mean nothing. Something has to be done," he concluded.

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