What did Trent Alexander-Arnold, Jose Mourinho, Gianluca Prestianni say about alleged racist abuse of Vinicius Junior after Benfica v Real Madrid?

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Jose Mourinho responded after his Benfica player Gianluca Prestianni was accused of aiming racist abuse at Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior during their UEFA Champions League play-off clash at the Estadio da Luz. Los Blancos' 1-0 victory was overshadowed by the incident, which came following the Brazilian's stunning goal. The second leg on Wednesday, March 25, is live on TNT Sports.

Highlights: Vini Jr stunner sees Real edge first leg

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Jose Mourinho and Benfica midfielder Gianluca Prestianni have responded to Vinicius Junior’s allegation that he was racially abused on Tuesday in their UEFA Champions League play-off clash.

The 25-year-old winger reported racist abuse from Prestianni to referee Francois Letexier, an incident which led the Brazil forward to leave the pitch after interacting with him.

Shortly after scoring the only goal of the game in Portugal, Vinicius walked off the pitch and the match was stopped for around 10 minutes as the other players followed following an interaction with his opponent.

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Mourinho spoke to Vinicius after he decided to leave the pitch and, in an interview after the game, the Benfica head coach was asked if the player had incited the crowd with his goal celebration.

He said: "Yes. I believe so. It should be the crazy moment of the game, an amazing goal.

"Unfortunately [he was] not just happy to score that astonishing goal. When you score a goal like that, you celebrate in a respectful way."

Clarifying what he said to the player, Mourinho added: "I told [Vinicius], when you score a goal like that you just celebrate and walk back.

"When he was arguing about racism, I told him the biggest person in the history of this club [Eusebio] was black.

Prestianni is 'cowardly' for covering face in Vinicius racism row, says Cole

Video credit: TNT Sports

"This club, the last thing that it is, is racist. If in his mind there was something in relation to that, this is Benfica.

"They [Vinicius and Prestianni] told me different things. But I don't believe in one or another. I want to be an independent."

Benfica shared a denial posted from Prestianni's personal Instagram account on X, along with a caption which read: "Together, by your side."

He wrote: "I want to clarify that at no time did I direct racist insults to Vini Jr, who unfortunately misunderstood what he thought he heard.

"I was never racist with anyone and I regret the threats I received from Real Madrid players."

Benfica later doubled down on their stance, even casting doubt on the allegations of the Real Madrid players by posting a video of the distance along with a caption which read: "As the images demonstrate, given the distance, the Real Madrid players could not have heard what they claim to have heard."

'Top drawer, top corner, top class' - Vinicius Jr scores a worldie for Madrid to break the deadlock

Video credit: TNT Sports

'To ruin a night like this for our team is a disgrace'

Real Madrid defender Trent Alexander-Arnold slammed the incident and gave his support to his team-mate.

"What has happened is a disgrace to football and overshadowed the performance, as well as an amazing goal," said Alexander-Arnold.

"Vini has been subject to this a few times throughout his career. To ruin a night like this for our team is a disgrace. There is no place for it in football or society. It is disgusting."

The match played out with 12 minutes of stoppage time after the break in play, and during the extended period, an object thrown from the crowd appeared to hit Vinicius on the arm.

Vinicius released his own statement on his Instagram account, hitting out at those involved.

"Racists are, above all, cowards. They need to put their shirts in their mouths to show how weak they are," he wrote.

"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."

Infantino 'shocked and saddened'

Gianni Infantino, the FIFA president, released a statement on Wednesday, which read: "I was shocked and saddened to see the incident of alleged racism towards Vinicius Junior in the UEFA Champions League match between Benfica and Real Madrid.

"There is absolutely no room for racism in our sport and in society – we need all the relevant stakeholders to take action and hold those responsible to account.

"At FIFA, through the Global Stand Against Racism and the Players’ Voice Panel, we are committed to ensuring that players, officials and fans are respected and protected, and that appropriate action is taken when incidents occur.

"I commend referee Francois Letexier for activating the anti-racism protocol by using the arm gesture to stop the game and address the situation.

"FIFA and football shows full solidarity to victims of racism and any form of discrimination. I will always continue to reiterate: No to racism! No to any form of discrimination!"

Real Madrid play Osasuna at the weekend in their next match, before the return leg against Benfica on Wednesday, March 25, live on TNT Sports and discovery+.

Benfica face AVS on Saturday in their next Liga Portugal game before the trip to Spain.

Stream the Premier League, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Conference League, Men's and Women's FA Cup and more on TNT Sports and discovery+

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