Gianluca Prestianni insist he was forced to retaliate with 'homophobic slur' due to unbearable harassment after being repeatedly called 'dwarf' by Vinícius Júnior first..

The Times exclusively reported on Tuesday that Gianluca Prestianni, the Benfica wonderkid who was given a one-match administrative suspension by UEFA for alleged racist remarks, insists he did not say anything racist to Real Madrid forward Vinícius Júnior, but was forced to retaliate with 'homophobic slur' due to unbearable harassment.

According to the report, Prestianni said that Vinícius had been repeatedly calling him a "dwarf" on the pitch before the incident, and that he was ultimately forced to retaliate with 'homophobic slur' because he could no longer tolerate it.

However, Prestianni's explanation failed to garner sympathy and instead drew harsh criticism from Vinícius's teammate, goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who said, "An explanation is just a cover-up; his actions are truly shameful."

"Kylian (Mbappé) heard it too and can testify to what Vinícius said. I believe 100% that they had no reason to falsely accuse anyone."

The Times journalist also argued that if Prestianni's claims were true, he wouldn't have needed to cover his mouth while pulling up his collar, as if trying to hide the fact that his words were obvious to outsiders.

Furthermore, Bayern Munich head coach Vincent Kompany, when asked about the controversy, agreed with The Athletic's perspective.

He said, "José Mourinho, as the team's leader, attacked Vinícius with his goal celebration, smearing his actions at the time. From a leadership perspective, this was a huge mistake, and we absolutely cannot accept it."

"I've met a hundred people who have worked with Mourinho. I've never heard anyone speak ill of him. All the players who have played with him love him. I know him; I know he fights for the team and the club, and he made this decision."

"You can't be a bad person and have all the players you've worked with praising you. I know he's a good person. I don't need to judge his character, but I've heard some rumours and understand what he might have done, but he made a mistake."

"Hopefully, this won't happen again. We can look forward, grow together, and focus on what we can do together, not those things that keep pushing us apart."

"Not only that, he also mentioned Eusébio's name, saying that there couldn't be any racism at Benfica because Eusébio is the greatest player in Benfica's history."

"Do you know what black players went through in the 60s? Did he accompany Eusébio to every away game across Europe and see for himself what he went through?"

"Today, I'm using his name to emphasize Vinícius Júnior's experience. He finally has a voice, while many players in European leagues don't have that opportunity. Black players in Hungary, Bulgaria, and Serbia receive absolutely no support when they encounter misfortune."

An indignant Kompany also mentioned Mourinho's infamous celebration at Old Trafford during his time at Porto, and his clash with referee Anthony Taylor in the 2023 Europa League final.

At the time, Mourinho was accused of "using insulting/abusive language towards the referee," and Taylor subsequently faced abuse from fans.

Kompany stated, "When Mourinho celebrated with a knee slide at Old Trafford because he criticized Vinho's celebration; when he celebrated in front of the Barcelona fans during Inter Milan's semi-final against Barcelona; when he led Roma against Sevilla, clashed with the referee, and had to be escorted out of France after the match… at that moment, if anyone were to racistly criticize Mourinho, I hope we would all stand up and say 'Stop!' His celebration is irrelevant. Let's listen to his thoughts, let's defend something simple and fundamental."

When asked what he hoped to see after the incident, Kompany admitted that he hoped Prestianni, if found guilty, would be given the opportunity to apologize and receive appropriate punishment.

Kompany added, "My dream is that if a Benfica player really said something as egregious as what happened, I hope that after the incident, he will still have the opportunity to apologize and say, 'I'm sorry, I made a mistake,' and that will also influence the verdict."

"So, the answer should be A or B, but if you admit you made a mistake, you should have the opportunity to say, 'Hey, nobody's perfect.' That's a good sign. But we are depriving all those choices because we are artificially creating left-or-right, black-or-white dichotomies; you have to stand on one side or the other."

It's worth mentioning that despite the administrative ban, the Portuguese Primeira Liga giants resolutely chose to support Prestianni and deliberately included him in the squad for their trip to Spain.

After arriving in Madrid, the Argentina international was even arranged to appear in an open training session at the Santiago Benabau Stadium, the home ground of their La Liga rivals, a move that was undeniably provocative.

Benfica's provocative support for Prestianni, in stark contrast to Real Madrid's support for Vinícius, added fuel to the fire in the second leg match between the two teams this week.

However, this also puts UEFA, a champion of racial equality, in a very awkward position.

This ugly controversy occurred on February 17, 2026, during Benfica's UEFA Champions League Round of 16s play-off match against Real Madrid. Prestianni suddenly pulled up his shirt collar and covered his mouth, seemingly calling Vinícius Júnior "a monkey" several times.

Upon hearing this, Vinícius immediately left the pitch, halting the game for nearly 10 minutes. During this time, his teammate Kylian Mbappé also spoke out, condemning Prestianni as a "disgusting racist" and demanding he leave the stadium.

After the match, Gianluca Prestianni insisted that he did not racially abuse Vinícius, but rather shouted some 'homophobic slur' at him.

Mourinho also argued that because the club's greatest player in history was the late African-American legend Eusébio, Prestianni "could not be a racist." This claim was met with skepticism and irresponsibility from many Western media outlets, including DAZN Canada.

On February 22, 2026, UEFA's Ethics and Disciplinary Committee announced that they have launched an investigation into the incident.

Two days later, UEFA announced a one-match administrative ban for Prestianni, confirming that if convicted, he would face a 10-match ban, a fine, or both.

Image source: Internet / DAZN Canada