Upon receiving the provisional ban, Benfica shared a statement saying that they 'regretted' the decision and intended to appeal it in the hope of a late ruling allowing them to call upon the Argentine player. Club president Rui Costa doubled down on Tuesday, calling the decision to ban Prestianni unjustified. Should Prestianni be found guilty of racially abusing Vinicius, he could receive a ban of up to 10 matches. Real Madrid superstar Kylian Mbappe was among those to back up his team-mate, with Vinicius reporting the incident to referee Francois Letexier in the immediate aftermath. Mourinho will not conduct a press conference ahead of Benfica's second leg against Real Madrid due to being suspended after being shown a red card last week.

Source: Metro February 24, 2026 15:53 UTC