UEFA provisionally suspends Prestianni after accusation he racially abused Vinícius Jr

Prestianni and Vinicius Junior [AP Photo]

UEFA said yesterday it has provisionally suspended Benfica player Gianluca Prestianni for one match following accusations he racially abused Vinícius Júnior.

The decision means that Prestianni will miss Wednesday’s second leg of the Champions League playoff between Real Madrid and Benfica. Madrid won the first match in Lisbon last week with Vinícius scoring a second-half winner for a 1-0 victory.

The game was halted for nearly 10 minutes after the Brazil forward scored and celebrated by the Benfica corner flag, upsetting local fans and players. After being confronted by Prestianni, Vinícius accused the Argentine player of calling him “monkey.” Prestianni has denied racially insulting Vinícius.

The anti-racism protocol was activated but no further action was taken during the match as there was no evidence against Prestianni, who covered his mouth with his shirt while talking to Vinícius.

Vinícius scored Madrid’s goal in the team’s 2-1 loss at Osasuna on Saturday. Prestianni did not play in Benfica’s 3-0 win over AVS on Saturday because of a yellow card suspension.

Also, missing for Benfica on Wednesday will be coach José Mourinho, who was sent off late in the first leg for complaining with the referee. The former Madrid coach criticized Vinícius for celebrating his goal by the Benfica flag.

Surprising Bodø/Glimt

Today (Wednesday, 4:00) small Norwegian club Bodø/Glimt will look to keep its surprising run going when it takes a two-goal advantage for the second leg at Inter Milan.

The first-leg win followed up back-to-back wins against Manchester City and Atletico Madrid in the league phase.

Inter, last year’s Champions League runner-up, will hope to overcome the first-match deficit and show that the loss in Norway was a fluke amid a run of seven wins in eight games across all competitions.

“Sometimes we produce our best in big matches, other times we don’t,” Inter defender Manuel Akanji said. “But there aren’t two different versions of Inter. Yes, we lost to Bodø/Glimt last time out in the Champions League, but we’re still the same team capable of great things.”

Juve’s crisis

Another Italian club who will need a comeback will be Juventus when it hosts Galatasaray on Wednesday after losing 5-2 in the first leg in Turkey.

Juventus has been struggling, though, and is coming off a 2-0 loss at home to Como that hurt its hopes of Champions League qualification next season. It was Juventus’ third straight defeat across all competitions and its fifth game in a row without a win.

Focused PSG

Both defending European champion Paris Saint-Germain and Monaco won in the French league this weekend ahead of their second leg in Paris on Wednesday. Monaco’s 3-2 victory over Lens allowed PSG to regain the French league lead with a 3-0 win against Metz.

PSG came back from two goals down against Monaco to win the first leg 3-2. Désiré Doue, who scored twice against Monaco, also found the net in the win against Metz. MDT/AP