The Portuguese said in his post-match interview that he was told different things by Vinicius and Prestianni regarding the incident. In addition to expressing his belief that Vinicius had been disrespectful with his goal celebration, he pointed to the club's legendary striker Eusebio as proof that Benfica is not a racist club. He added: "I told [Vinicius], when you score a goal like that you just celebrate and walk back. When he was arguing about racism, I told him the biggest person in the history of this club [Eusebio] was black. "They [Vinicius and Prestianni] told me different things.

Source: BBC February 19, 2026 00:15 UTC