UEFA has chosen to exclude Gianluca Prestianni from Wednesday’s match hosted by Real Madrid
Benfica’s midfielder, Gianluca Prestianni, has been handed a temporary one-game suspension by UEFA, thereby preventing his participation in the Champions League encounter with Real Madrid this Wednesday evening.
Prestianni was charged with uttering a prejudiced comment directed at Madrid’s wide player, Vinícius Jr, during the initial fixture of their play-off series in Lisbon the previous Tuesday.
UEFA initiated an inquiry, and its appointed investigator has determined that the preliminary findings necessitate barring the Argentine from the reverse fixture at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium. A comprehensive investigation remains underway.
A declaration from UEFA specified: “Subsequent to the designation of a UEFA Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector (EDI) to probe claims of prejudiced conduct throughout the 2025/2026 Champions League Knock-out Play-off fixture between SL Benfica and Real Madrid CF on 17 February 2026, and at the request of the EDI, accompanied by a preliminary report, the UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body (CEDB) today resolved to temporarily ban Mr. Gianluca Prestianni from the subsequent (1) UEFA club competition encounter for which he would ordinarily qualify, due to the apparent infringement of Article 14 of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations (DR) concerning prejudiced conduct.
“This action is without precluding any determination that the UEFA disciplinary panels might later issue after the completion of the current inquiry and its subsequent presentation to the UEFA disciplinary bodies.”
further updates forthcoming