Gianluca Prestianni will miss the second leg of Benfica's Champions League tie against Real Madrid after Uefa rejected the club's appeal against his suspension. The Argentine winger was handed a provisional one-match ban after Real Madrid's Vinicius Jr reported alleged racist abuse during last week's 1-0 defeat in a knockout round play-off first leg. Benfica said they would appeal the decision, but accepted it was unlikely to "have any practical effect" before Wednesday's return at the Bernabeu. Prestianni trained alongside his Benfica team-mates at Real Madrid's stadium on Tuesday in the hope his ban could be overturned in time to feature. Prestianni, who has denied racially abusing Vinicius, would otherwise have been eligible to face the Spanish hosts while the investigation took place.

Source: BBC February 25, 2026 16:42 UTC