Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni – who allegedly racially abused the Brazilian in the first leg – was suspended for the return game.
Bookmark popover
Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior applauds to supporters during the warm up before the second leg of the Champions League play-off game against Benfica (Manu Fernandez/AP)open image in gallery
Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior applauds to supporters during the warm up before the second leg of the Champions League play-off game against Benfica (Manu Fernandez/AP)
Your support helps us to tell the story
Read moreSupport Now
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
**Your support makes all the difference.**Read more
Real Madrid fans displayed anti-racism banners before kick-off as Vinicius Junior met Benfica again – with the Brazilian having the final word as the Spanish giants reached the last 16 of the Champions League.
Vinicius started for Real eight days after the first leg of the play-off round tie in Lisbon, during which the Brazilian alleged he was racially abused by Gianluca Prestianni – something the Benfica player denied.
Real fans held up banners with messages of support for Vinicius – who had scored the only goal in Lisbon – before kick-off at the Santiago Bernabeu.
And as the players took to the field, two forceful messages – “No to racism” and “Respect” – were read out.
Vinicius repaid the support of the Real fans with a cool 80th-minute finish, which secured a 2-1 win on the night and 3-1 on aggregate.
Benfica had led early on through Rafa Silva, but that was wiped out within two minutes by Aurelien Tchouameni’s equaliser.
UEFA had imposed a provisional sanction on Prestianni on Monday, ruling him out of the tie, although the Argentinian winger had travelled to Madrid as part of the Benfica squad.
Benfica had appealed against the decision to ban Prestianni, but UEFA dismissed the Portuguese club’s case on Wednesday afternoon.
“Mr Gianluca Prestianni remains provisionally suspended for the next UEFA club competition match for which he would otherwise be eligible,” a UEFA statement read.
UEFA appointed an ethics and disciplinary investigator (EDI) following the first leg and made a swift decision.
UEFA said on Monday the imposition of a provisional suspension was “without prejudice to any ruling that the UEFA disciplinary bodies may subsequently make following the conclusion of the ongoing investigation and its respective submission to the UEFA disciplinary bodies”.
The Brazilian left the field and refused to return, resulting in a stoppage in play that lasted 10 minutes of last Tuesday’s first leg.
It came after Vinicius had given his team the lead with a wonderful individual strike, curling the ball home from a tight angle five minutes into the second half.
After celebrating in front of the home fans, he became suddenly and visibly upset about something said to him and immediately informed the referee, who stopped the match.
Benfica boss Jose Mourinho, who was roundly criticised for his comments about the incident after the game, did not conduct the usual pre-match press conference on Tuesday.
Mourinho appeared to intimate after the first leg that the winger had brought any abuse upon himself with his celebration and said that “a stadium where Vinicius plays, something happens, always”.
Anti-discrimination organisation Kick It Out responded by accusing Mourinho of “gaslighting”.
Mourinho was expected to watch the second leg from the stands after being sent off in Lisbon for angrily shouting towards referee Francois Letexier.