Legendary football manager and Benfica coach Jose Mourinho has been accused of justifying racism after a mid-match spat between his player, Gianluca Prestianni and Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior forced the Champions League match at the Estádio da Luz to be halted for 10 minutes. While Mourinho was criticised by former legends, Vinicius Junior’s teammate Kylian Mbappe demanded Prestianni’s permanent suspension from the Champions League.
The playoff match between Benfica and Real Madrid was always expected to be a controversial game, as Mourinho’s team defeated the Spanish giants dramatically
last month to qualify for the playoffs. Having drawn against each other once again, the tension was palpable from the start.
However, the match turned extremely ugly after Brazil star Vinicius scored in the 50th minute and celebrated extravagantly at the away stadium, for which he was also booked. Soon after, Prestianni was seen telling something to the Real Madrid winger with his mouth covered. Whatever the Argentine winger said was most likely not pleasant as it ticked off Vinicius, who alleged racist abuse and complained to referee Francois Letexier before leaving the pitch temporarily.
This is what happened between Vinícius Jr and Prestianni.
He scored an absolute banger, he went to celebrate it, got booked, and then the Argentine Prestianni was pissed and reacted by covering his mouth to racially insult him. pic.twitter.com/Iv7tcFvAeQ
— 10 (@Kylian) February 17, 2026
Mourinho was seen having a word with Vinicius as he walked off the pitch, but made a U-turn 10 minutes later. Vinicius was jeered loudly after the match restarted, while Mbappe was seen calling Prestianni a “bloody racist” multiple times.
Mourinho slams Vinicius’s celebration
Former Real Madrid manager Mourinho, meanwhile, received a red card and the marching orders for aggressive remonstrations on the touchline towards the end of the first leg that the away team won 1-0.
After the match, Mourinho justified Prestianni and the crowd’s behaviour by hinting that Vinicius went over the top with his celebration.
“Yes. I believe so,” he said when asked if Vinicius’s celebration provoked the crowd. “It should be the crazy moment of the game, an amazing goal. Unfortunately [he was] not just happy to score that astonishing goal. When you score a goal like that, you celebrate in a respectful way.”
Mourinho also refused the allegations of racism against Prestianni, claiming that Benfica’s biggest legend is black footballer Eusebio.
“I told [Vinicius], when you score a goal like that you just celebrate and walk back. When he was arguing about racism, I told him the biggest person in the history of this club [Eusebio] was black.
“This club, the last thing that it is, is racist. If in his mind there was something in relation to that, this is Benfica.
“They [Vinicius and Prestianni] told me different things. But I don’t believe in one or another. I want to be an independent.”
Mourinho accused of supporting racism
Former Real Madrid midfielder Clarence Seedorf slammed Mourinho for his post-match comments and alleged that the Portuguese manager was trying to defend racism and blame Vinicius for the ugly incident.
“I think he is still emotional. I think he made a big mistake today to justify racial abuse,” Seedorf said on Amazon Prime. “He’s saying it’s OK, when Vinicius provokes you, to be racist – and I think that is very wrong.
“We should never, ever justify racial abuse. Vinicius has had enough of that unjustified behaviour from people. I know Mourinho by heart would agree with me but he expressed himself a bit unfortunately, I believe.”
Former Arsenal midfielder Theo Walcott also said on Amazon Prime that Mourinho made a big mistake with his post-match comments, which will be a blot on his legacy.
“I am quite calm and composed and I am not someone who gets angry often,” he said. “I love everything Jose Mourinho has done in football but I think he has made a poor decision in that sense. It was maybe the one time we shouldn’t have heard from him, the one night he should not have been in front of the cameras.”
Mbappe wants Prestianni to be banned
Meanwhile, Mbappe has demanded that Prestianni should be removed from the Champions League for racist abuse of Vinicius.
“Nothing like this has ever happened to me, and in these kinds of important matters, it’s important to speak very clearly and not to speak in generalities,” Mbappe said. “I have the utmost respect for Benfica and their coach, who is one of the best in history and who made history with Real Madrid. But, in my opinion, this player doesn’t deserve to play in the Champions League anymore.
🗣️ Kylian Mbappé: “The number 25 of Benfica, who I don’t want to name, doesn’t deserve it, has said that Vini is a monkey five times and there are players from his team who have also heard it, today all the values of football have been lost.”
— Miss ADEL🦋🦚🌹 (@a_derll) February 17, 2026
“We cannot accept that a player who plays in Europe’s top competition behaves like this. This guy doesn’t deserve to play in the Champions League anymore, but we’ll see what happens.
“Let’s leave it to UEFA, who always try to do something. Now they have a serious case, and I hope they do something.”
Benfica have tried to defend Prestianni by posting a video of the incident on social media, claiming that the distance between the players on the pitch was so large that it would have been impossible for them to hear what was allegedly said.
Como demonstram as imagens, dada a distância, os jogadores do Real Madrid não podem ter ouvido o que andam a dizer que ouviram. pic.twitter.com/7JF9AVuhEM
— SL Benfica (@SLBenfica) February 18, 2026
Benfica will now travel to Madrid for the second leg, which will take place next Wednesday.
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