'You have a cold?!' - Thierry Henry calls on Gianluca Prestianni to tell truth about Vinicius Junior incident in emotional speech about 'tiring' racism in football

Vinicius Junior posted a statement on Instagram saying "racists are cowards" after the game on Tuesday, while Real Madrid team-mate Kylian Mbappe has called on Prestianni to be banned from the Champions League. The France international has said he heard the Benfica player call Vinicius a monkey five times at the Estadio da Luz in a game which ended in a 1-0 win for Los Blancos.

Prestianni has responded and said he did not racially abuse Vinicius. He posted on social media: "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."

Henry does not believe Prestianni has been truthful about the incident. The former Arsenal and Barcelona striker said on CBS Sports: "I can relate to what Vinicius is going through. That happened to me so many times on the pitch. I talked about it so many times after games. I’ve also been accused of looking for excuses after games when that happened to me. At times, you feel lonely, because it’s going to be your word against his word.

“We don’t know what Prestianni has said, because he was very courageous by putting his shirt over his mouth to make sure that we weren’t going to see what he said, so clearly, already, you look suspicious. Because you didn’t want people to see or read what you said. Then, the reaction of Vinicius is telling me that something not right happened. We still don’t know what was said. Vinicus can tell us his side, and Prestianni, I’m sure, will not tell us what he actually said, because I saw at one point Kylian Mbappe confront him, and he said, ‘I didn’t say anything’.

“Well, he must have said something at the very least. You feel like you don’t know what to do anymore. We’re in 2026 and still after a game like that, where we’re supposed to talk about his brilliant goal, we shouldn’t be having to deal with the referee telling you to not go to the corner flag, because that will incite the crowd. It’s a corner, can he not take a corner? He can’t go there to take a corner just because people are thinking whatever they’re thinking. Suddenly he becomes a victim. I can relate. I can assure you, when that happens, you don’t know what to do anymore.

“He tried to walk out in Spain one time, and another time, he tried to kick someone back because he’d had enough. Now he went to see the referee to tell him what happened. I’ve been there. The referee also told me he couldn’t do anything about it.” Let’s see how big of a man Prestianni is. Tell us what you said. You must have said something, because you can’t go to Mbappe and say, ‘I didn’t say anything’. What do you mean, you covered your nose for what, you have a cold?"

Henry also revealed his frustrations at the fact racism is still so prevalent in football in 2026. He added: "People did fight, way before my time, for us to be able to perform and to entertain people. And to still be in 2026 dealing with the same thing, it's tiring. Obviously, I can relate, not only I can relate by the color of my skin, I can relate because I've been there. I've been lonely."

A statement from UEFA has now been issued in the wake of the allegations: "A UEFA Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector has been appointed to investigate allegations of discriminatory behaviour during the UEFA Champions League 2025/2026 Knock-out Play-off between Club Benfica and Real Madrid CF on 17 February 2026. Further information regarding this matter will be made available in due course."

Real Madrid are due to host Benfica in the second leg of the knockout stage play-off tie at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday, February 25.