Gianluca Prestianni's 'excuse' for Vinicius Junior abuse likely to be dismissed with Benfica winger claiming Real Madrid star used 'dwarf' insult

Prestianni has been handed a provisional suspension by UEFA after being accused of racially abusing Vinicius during Benfica's clash with Real Madrid last week. The Argentine was seen speaking with his shirt covering his mouth before Vinicius spoke to referee Francois Letexier, who initiated the anti-racism protocol.

Prestianni has denied the allegations himself, claiming his Brazilian opponent misheard what he said during their confrontation.

The incident occurred shortly after Vinicius scored the only goal of the game at Estadio da Luz, with Jose Mourinho later claiming the winger was to blame for celebrating in front of the home fans and that Benfica could not be a racist club because club legend Eusebio was black.

Mourinho's comments and Benfica's decision to back Prestianni have been criticised widely in the football world over the past week or so, while Real Madrid stars have come out in support of Vinicius and denounced racism.

According to The Times, Prestianni is set to allege that Vinicius mocked him because of his height and that he used "maricon" - a homophobic slur - in response rather than "mono" - meaning monkey - as has been declared by both Vinicius and Los Blancos team-mate Kylian Mbappe, who has also said he heard the abuse.

Using either racist or homophobic language are breaches of Article 14 of the UEFA disciplinary rules and carry lengthy suspensions for any player or official found guilty. Comments regarding physical characteristics like height or size are not covered.

Benfica have continued to stand by Prestianni, with president Rui Costa hitting out at the decision to ban the 20-year-old from the second leg.

He said: "I wasn't on the field to know what was said or not said; in a situation like that, a lot can be said. We believe our player's word, who is being labelled a racist, but he is anything but racist.

"We always defended the player, we always kept the player informed of everything we were doing, and I'm only speaking now because there was a decision, even if not final and even if unfair, in our perspective. It wasn't justified for the president to speak before the process was finalised. In the end, there was no sentence, there's only a suspension, but there was no point in talking about a matter that was still in process."

Prestianni's defence that he used homophobic rather than racist language has been denounced by Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who declared: "It's just as serious because they are homophobic insults...I've also seen the images from the Benfica stand during the match and I think it's deplorable to see that in a stadium.

"You may like a player more or less, but making those gestures is shameful...I haven't seen if they've said anything about going after their fans who made those monkey gestures.

"But with everything that has happened, there are many things that haven't been done well. I think that racism, homophobia - all of these things - we simply cannot accept them and the insult is equally serious."

With everything that happened during the first leg and in the week or so since, Wednesday's clash is sure to be played in a fraught and volatile at the Bernabeu. Real Madrid's lead is only a slim one at 1-0, but Alvaro Arbeloa's players will only be more determined to finish the job and reach the last 16 in light of what Vinicius allegedly endured in the first fixture.

Prestianni, however, faces a lengthy ban of around ten games if found guilty and won't play in Wednesday's game due to his provisional suspension.