Pérez meets Rui Costa at Real Madrid, Benfica cause a stir | OneFootball

Apart from the tense atmosphere of the past week, Rui Costa and Florentino Pérez exchanged gifts before the Real Madrid - Benfica match, which was the second leg of the play-off for access to the round of 16 of the Champions League. The presidents of both clubs exchanged gifts, marking a moment of camaraderie in the presidential box at the Santiago Bernabéu. The moment was shared by the Merengues on their official website.

Remember that, despite the positive moment, Rui Costa broke his silence regarding the Prestianni case, even before the Benfica delegation left for Madrid, on the morning of last Tuesday.

"We have this case in the middle and we are unable to use Prestianni. We understand that nothing has been proven and there is no justification for the player's absence in this match," Rui Costa began, in statements to the Portuguese media.

"One thing does not cancel out the other and we do not want to use other cases to nullify the Prestianni situation, but we cannot forget what happened in the home match. There was a clear aggression by Valverde, who should be left out of this match," emphasized the Benfica president.

It should be recalled that Benfica lost to Real Madrid 2-1, in the second leg of the play-off for access to the round of 16 of the Champions League. After the Merengues' 1-0 victory in the first match at Luz, the Spanish side once again came out on top.

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