Football legend Thierry Henry, who played for Barcelona for three years between 2007 and 2010 following his historic stint at Arsenal, has naturally little affinity for Real Madrid. However, he was unambiguous in his support to Real Madrid player Vinícius Jr., who (allegedly, and denied by Benfica) was called "monkey" five times by Gianluca Prestianni, words that were heard by other players, including Kylian Mbappé.
Henry, who works as a pundit in the US show Golazo on CBS, challenged Prestianni on air to reveal what he really said to Vinícius: if it wasn't "monkey", it was still something serious enough to cover his mouth with his shirt: "Clearly, already, he looks suspicious because he didn't want people to see what he said. The reaction of Vinícius is telling that something not right happened."
"Let's see how big of a man Prestianni is, tell us what you said. You must have said something, you can't go to Mbappé and tell you didn't say anything. So you cover your nose for what, you have a cold?"
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"That happened to me many times", says Henry
Henry sympathised with Vinícius, saying that he has been called "monkey" before, and it's tiring to be in 2026 talking about the same thing.
"I can relate to what Vinícius is going through. That happened to me so many times on the field, I've been told for looking for excuses. At times you feel lonely because it's going to be your word against his word, because we don't know what he has said", Henry continued.
The former Barça player even said that "I don't like Real Madrid but I'm a Madridista tonight", and sided with Vinícius in one of the most discussed aspects of the conversation: his right to celebrate the goal in the corner.
Henry added that "I believe Kylian" - who apparently sent Henry a message on his phone - as the French player had said in his interview that Prestianni had called Vinícius "monkey" five times, and it was not a confrontation with the rest of Benfica supporters, only the Argentinian player "who should not play anymore at Champions League.
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"Gianluca Prestianni is an absolute coward"
Henry's mate at CBS Micah Richards agreed, and was even blunter. "Gianluca Prestianni is a coward, an absolute coward because no one will ever know, only him and Vinicius Junior", and said that Vinícius was not going to lie about something like that.
Reactions have continued this morning, some from across the Atlantic, with some criticising even the manager José Mourinho, who tried to distance himself from Prestianni, saying that he doesn't fully believe neither Vinícius nor Prestianni, but criticising Vinícius for his celebration and awkwardly using Eusebio's status in Benfica as proof that it is not a racist club.