Vinicius Junior 'repulsed' by Jose Mourinho's response to accusation of racial abuse against Benfica's Gianluca Prestianni

A Champions League knockout phase play-off encounter in Lisbon was brought to a halt early in the second half. Blancos superstar Vinicius opened the scoring when firing into the top corner.

He riled the home support when celebrating by the corner flag, leading to a yellow card being flashed in his direction and tempers in the Benfica to become frayed. Angry words were exchanged before Vinicius returned to his half of the field.

Before the game could be resumed, Prestianni - with his shirt being pulled up over his mouth - said something to Vinicius. The South American raced off towards the match referee and claimed to have been subjected to racist comments. UEFA protocols were then followed over the course of a 10-minute delay.

Benfica expressed their support for Prestianni afterwards, with the Argentine winger saying in a post-match statement: “I want to clarify that at no time did I direct racist insults to Vini Jr, who regrettably misunderstood what he thought he heard. I was never racist with anyone and I regret the threats I received from Real Madrid players.”

Vinicius said in a statement of his own - having been backed on the field by club colleague Kylian Mbappe - “Racists are, above all, cowards. They need to put their shirts in their mouths to show how weak they are. But they have the protection of others who, theoretically, have an obligation to punish them. Nothing that happened today is new in my life or in my team's life. I received a yellow card for celebrating a goal. I still don't understand why. On the other hand, it was just a poorly executed protocol that served no purpose.”

Mourinho spoke with Vinicius at the time of the incident, before receiving a red card himself, and told reporters afterwards: “Regretful for what? I’ve spoken with both of them. Vinicius says one thing, and Prestianni says another. I don’t want to be ‘red’… and I don’t want to say that I 100% support Prestianni; but I can’t be ‘white’ and say that what Vinicius told me is the truth. I can’t, I don’t know; only that up until the goal, it was a great match.

“I already said it in the flash interview, and I’ve tried to be more balanced than [Alvaro] Arbeloa and Mbappe. It’s not that I want to say Vinicius is a liar and mine is an incredible kid. They’ve gone down a different path. It happens in so many stadiums, and it’s always the same thing… Something’s not working. Vinicius scored a fantastic goal. Why didn’t he celebrate like Eusebio, Pele, or [Alfredo] Di Stefano? Why didn’t he? The game was over with that play.”

Spanish news outlet El Chiringuito claim that Vinicius has been left angered by Mourinho’s comments. He cannot understand how his goal celebrations could be considered “provocative” and finds the narrow-mindedness of a vastly-experienced coach to be “repulsive”.

UEFA have opened an investigation into what went on, alongside the Portuguese government, with a verdict expected to be delivered shortly - which could lead to sanctions being handed out.

Mourinho will already be serving a touchline ban when Benfica head to Santiago Bernabeu for their return date with Real next Wednesday. He is likely to be quizzed on the Prestianni incident again before and after that encounter.

Vinicius’ stunning strike at Estadio da Luz was the only goal of the game during a keenly-contested first leg, meaning that Real hold a narrow lead as they attempt to secure safe progress into the last-16 of elite European competition.