Maximum Alert: UEFA Provisionally Suspended Gianlucca Prestianni and He Will Not Face Vinícius’ Real Madrid

There will not be a second meeting between the Argentine player and Vinícius Júnior in the return leg of this Champions knockout stage

Prestianni will not play

UEFA has provisionally suspended Gianluca Prestianni for the incident involving discriminatory attitudes during the match between Benfica and Real Madrid at the Estádio da Luz.

Gianluca Prestianni had been involved in a dramatic series of events between him and Vinícius Júnior. The Brazilian Real Madrid player accused the Argentine player of referring to him in a racist manner.

The UEFA statement

Moments ago, UEFA announced that, in light of what happened, it would take the provisional action of suspending the player for the next match at Real Madrid's home. Therefore, the Benfica winger will not be able to travel to Madrid and play the return leg of this match.

“Following the appointment of a UEFA Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector (EDI) to investigate allegations of discriminatory behaviour during the UEFA Champions League 2025/2026 Knock-out Play-off match between SL Benfica and Real Madrid CF on 17 February 2026, and upon request of the EDI with an interim report, the UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body (CEDB) today decided to provisionally suspend Mr. Gianluca Prestianni for the next (1) UEFA club competition match for which he would otherwise be eligible for the prima facie violation of Article 14 of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations (DR) related to a discriminatory behaviour”. It was the statement presented by UEFA to justify their decision to exclude the Argentine from the Portuguese team in the next match.

Gianluca Prestianni se lía en pelea verbal con Vinicius Junior.

The return match

Benfica will have to come back from the defeat in their own stadium, where they fell 1-0 against the Madrid team, while Real Madrid will seek to consolidate their victory