Prestianni on Santa Clara–Sporting penalty: Benfica winger blunt | OneFootball

Gianluca Prestianni expressed total disbelief regarding the penalty awarded in favor of Sporting against Santa Clara. Through the social network X, the young Argentine shared the video of the controversial incident, adding only two facepalm emojis.

This reaction from the young winger is in line with the public stance taken by the Eagles: “Someone needs to be held responsible for this total discredit that is killing Portuguese football. There’s no point in such a packed calendar if the competitions are decided before they even begin.”

Rui Costa also addressed the topic during the recent Christmas dinner. In his festive speech, the President of the Eagles joked about the phantom penalty: “Good evening, everyone. My apologies for this slight delay, but I was outside watching yet another scandal in Portuguese football and waiting for the referee to award a penalty.”

It’s worth noting that, of the seven refereeing experts who write for the national press, five (Pedro Henriques, Marco Ferreira, Jorge Faustino, Marco Pina, and José Leirós) consider João Pinheiro’s decision to be wrong, while only two (Jorge Coroado and Fortunato Azevedo) praised the refereeing team’s decision.

Amidst this controversy, the forward faces an uncertain future at Luz. Rumors point to a possible move to River Plate in the next transfer window. This season, he has posted modest numbers, with two goals in 18 matches, fueling speculation about his continuity in the squad for the rest of 2025/26.

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