Prestianni’s alleged racist attack on Vinicius in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 shook the football world. Images of the Benfica player covering his mouth with his shirt to address the Brazilian have not gone unpunished. UEFA has provisionally suspended the Argentinean, who despite this sanction has traveled to Madrid.
An image ofPrestianni with the rest of his teammates before boarding the plane that will take them to the Spanish capital confirms the Argentine’s presence in Spain.Even so, Benfica did not give up on counting on the player against Real Madrid, considering a trip that finally took place. The reason: the possibility, in which the Portuguese club trusted at the time, of an express resolution of the appeal they planned to present to this sanction.
Prestianni is being branded a racist, but he is anything but racist. I can guarantee it
Benfica president Rui Costa spoke to the media before the Portuguese team’s plane left for Madrid. “I’m not on the field to know what was said or not said. In a situation like this, a lot can be said. We believe in the word of our player; more than that, it is to know the players we have at home. Prestianni is being labeled as a racist, but he is anything but racist. I can guarantee that,” Costa told A Bola.
“He spoke a week after the incident, and it is easy to explain. We informed our fans of all the procedures, we defended the player when we had to, and it was not justified for the president to talk about it every day. The actual sentence has not yet been handed down, there is a suspension, but it did not make sense to talk every day about a matter that is still pending. We waited for the process to be resolved,” added the Benfica president.
Costa points to Valverde
“One thing does not eliminate the other, and we do not want to use the other cases to dismiss Prestianni’s situation, but we cannot forget what happened at home. There was a clear aggression by Valverde, who should have been left out of this match,” concluded Rui Costa before heading to Madrid.
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