Benfica player Gianluca Prestianni has defended himself from Vinícius Jr.'s accusations that he insulted him with racist slur, and offered his version from the incidents of the 1-0 Champions League match between Benfica and Real Madrid, which ended with victory for Madrid with a goal by Vinícius. In the celebration, Vinícius accused Prestianni of calling him "monkey", and told the referee, who activated the anti-racism protocol and halted the match.
Due to the lack of evidence (whatever Prestianni said, he covered his mouth with the shirt, so no lip reading is possible), the match resumed ten minutes later. It still had a fair share of incidents, as Mourinho saw a red card for his protests, trying to have the referee show a second yellow card to Vinícius.
After the match, and with all Real Madrid players defending Vinícius, Benfica publicly supported Prestianni, sharing Prestianni's post in which he denied calling Vinícius "monkey":
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"I want to clarify that at no point did I direct racist insults at player Vinícius Júnior, who unfortunately misinterpreted what he believes he heard. I have never been racist toward anyone, and I regret the threats I received from Real Madrid players."
Later, Benfica shared a video trying to dismantle Real Madrid's version of the events: "As the images demonstrate, given the distance, the Real Madrid players could not have heard what they claim to have heard."
Prestianni further commented on the issue, sharing Benfica's post, adding that "Accusing someone of something serious isn't right, and even less so when it's not true. And everyone pointing fingers at me for covering up with my shirt when they know that all football players cover their mouths to talk."
Prestianni has not revealed what he said to Vinícius, nor why he chose to cover his mouth to do it. And in the video, Mbappé can be seen not far from Prestianni and Vinícius, and also turns after Prestianni said whatever he said...