February 25 – The return leg between Real Madrid and Benfica comes with more than a place in the next round of the UEFA Champions League at stake.
Ahead of tonight’s tie in Madrid, Los Blancos manager Álvaro Arbeloa and goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois have urged UEFA to take decisive action following the alleged racist abuse of Vinícius Júnior by Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni during last week’s first leg in Lisbon.
Last week’s first leg match at the Estádio da Luz was halted for 10 minutes after Vinícius reported the incident to referee François Letexier. Real forward Kylian Mbappé later alleged that Prestianni had called his teammate a “monkey” five times.
UEFA has since opened an investigation and issued a provisional one-match suspension to Prestianni, which Benfica have appealed. Regardless, the young Argentine travelled to Madrid and trained at the Santiago Bernabéu with the rest of his teammates.
Arbeloa framed the moment as a test for European football’s governing body.
“We have a great chance to mark a before and after. UEFA has flown the flag for anti-racism and we now have a chance to not leave that as just a slogan, a nice banner to bring out before games, but to make it real,” he said.
Courtois was equally direct.
“This a good moment for football to end these things. In the dressing room we know what Vinícius told us. It has happened many times in football; not just on the pitch but in the stands. We have to end this now. Uefa will decide what they have to do – the players do not matter in that – but it would be a good message [to act].
“With Prestianni, it will always be word against word and they [Benfica] will believe what their player says. We are 100% with Viní. Viní has had thousands of battles and has never said anything like this. We know Viní heard it 100% and I believe him 100%. Because he [Prestianni] covered his mouth, we won’t know what was said, so Benfica will defend their player and there is not much more we can do now. It is Uefa who have to decide what they want to decide.”
Courtois also criticised suggestions from Benfica coach José Mourinho that the incident was linked to Vinícius’s goal celebration.
“In the end, Mourinho is Mourinho. As a coach you are always going to defend your club and what your player said. The only thing that disappoints me a bit is him using Viní’s celebration. Vini didn’t do anything bad. You can’t justify an alleged act of racism with a celebration.”
When it was put to him that footage appears to show Prestianni using a homophobic slur, Courtois added: “After the game, Aurélien [Tchouaméni] said that. It seems as bad to me. Those are homophobic insults and it’s as serious. I have also seen images of [racist gestures in] the stands at Benfica during the game and I think it’s deplorable. You can like a player more or less but those gestures are lamentable.
“I don’t know if Benfica will pursue those fans who did monkey gestures. A lot of things have not been handled well. Racism, homophobia: we cannot accept those things ever. And if he didn’t cover his mouth there, we can imagine what he said when he did cover his mouth.”
Benfica president Rui Costa has publicly backed Prestianni, insisting the club “would never allow racist players in its squad”.
This evening, the time will come to bring the fight back to the pitch. As it stands, Real Madrid carry a slender 1-0 lead into their home fixture.
Contact the writer of this story, Harry Ewing, at [email protected]