Vini Jr. accuses 'coward' Prestianni of racist abuse

LISBON -- Real Madrid forward Vinícius Júnior accused Benfica's Gianluca Prestianni of racially abusing him during the teams' Champions League playoff first leg on Tuesday, leading the match to be paused for 10 minutes in the second half.

Vinícius scored to put Madrid ahead in the 50th minute in Lisbon -- the only goal in a 1-0 win -- and was then confronted by Prestianni, after celebrating by the corner flag.

Prestianni could be seen speaking to Vinícius while covering his mouth with his jersey, before the Brazil forward pointed to him and ran towards the referee.

Vinícius spoke to referee Francois Letexier, who made the "arms-crossed" gesture indicating that an accusation of racist abuse had been made.

"Racists are cowards," Vinícius posted on Instagram after the game. "They need to put their shirt over their mouths to show how weak they are."

The match at the Estádio da Luz was then put on hold, as Vinícius, appearing distressed, spoke to Madrid coach Álvaro Arbeloa, Benfica's José Mourinho and teammates.

Arbeloa later confirmed that Madrid had been willing to abandon the field if Vinícius wanted to, but that after discussions, the team had decided to continue.

"Tolerance for racism has to be zero," Arbeloa said in his post-match news conference. "Things like that can't happen on a pitch in 2026 ... I asked [Vini] if he wanted to keep playing. I told him we were with him. We have to be by his side, always."

"The referee told me he hadn't heard anything, and can't do anything in that situation," Arbeloa added. "Whatever Vini said, we would have been with him ... Zero tolerance for this."

Vinícius was also shown a yellow card following his goal, after he celebrated with a dance by the corner flag, and was then confronted by several Benfica players.

"I received a yellow card for celebrating a goal, and I still don't understand why," Vinicius said on Instagram. "And then there's a protocol, poorly implemented, which doesn't do anything."

Speaking in the post-match mixed zone, Kylian Mbappé said Prestianni had racially abused Vinícius multiple times, adding that the Argentinian "didn't deserve to play in the Champions League again."

"It's ruined the night, it's a disgrace to the sport," Madrid defender Trent Alexander-Arnold told CBS. "It's a disgrace in society as well. There is no place for it. But if incidents like this do happen, we can only deal with it the way like we did tonight.

"I'm very proud of the team, and the club and the squad and how everyone reacted."

"According to teammates who were nearby, they heard something very nasty," Madrid midfielder Federico Valverde said. "It's a shame that with so many cameras, it wasn't recorded."

"This can't happen," Madrid's Aurélien Tchouaméni told Movistar. "Vini told us the guy called him a monkey ... Vini told us we had to keep playing. I said that if there's a problem, we'll leave as a team, that's it. But we talked, and we said we had to win."

Benfica will travel to Madrid next week for the playoff second leg at the Bernabéu on February 25.