Federico Valverde has slammed Gianluca Prestianni after the Benfica winger allegedly racially abused Real Madrid star Vinicius Junior. An ugly incident occured between the pair in the second half of the two European sides' Champions League playoff first-leg.
Vinicius scored the winner and provoked an angry response from home fans and the opposition with his celebration. He was recieving boos and whistles throughout the game and gave it back to them.
Prestianni then covered his mouth with his shirt and said something to Vinicius. This was met with outrage from the Brazilian who headed straight to the referee and UEFA's racism protocol was implemented.
The game was paused for 10 minutes before resuming with Prestianni allowed to continue playing. Vinicius is believed to have informed the referee that the Argentine had called him a "monkey."
Valverde hits out at Prestianni
The game was marred by the racism row which saw Kylian Mbappe confront Prestianni in disgust. When the incident occured it looked as though the French forward heard the remark judging by his response.
Valverde gave his thoughts on the situation after the game and he condemmed the Benfica winger. He said (via Madrid Xtra):
"Prestianni? When you cover your mouth with your shirt to say something, it's obviously to say something really ugly. He said a word that should never be used. There's no way no camera caught it. It was pathetic, what he said. It's really, really bad."
🚨 Fede Valverde: "Prestianni? When you cover your mouth with your shirt to say something, it's obviously to say something really ugly.
— Madrid Xtra (@MadridXtra) February 17, 2026
He said a word that should never be used. There's no way no camera caught it.
It was PATHETIC, what he said. It's really, really bad." pic.twitter.com/IH89xyayIP
UEFA now need to investigate and take action against the Benfica player who was disgracefully applauded off by the home fans. It was a shameful night for UEFA who didn't take the appropriate response.
Valverde 'proud' of Vinicius
Valverde delved further into the incident when speaking after Madrid's win against Benfica. He suggested that the comments made by Prestianni weren't the only controversy on the night (via Managing Madrid):
"It's very serious, it's happened many times already, and at this point I think leaving isn't an option that the spectacle of football would like, but there's one person who has damaged the spectacle. They were saying all sorts of things throughout the entire match and there wasn't a single camera that caught it."
Valverde added:
"We don't know for sure, but according to all the teammates who were nearby, he said something nasty that shouldn't be said. We've been fighting for this for a long time, Vini has fought for this, and if this keeps happening, it's a shame that a camera didn't record it... If you cover your mouth to say something, it means what you're saying isn't right. It's a shame. I'm proud of the teammates who defended Vini and proud of Vini for carrying on."
Madrid will take a 1-0 lead back to the Bernabeu when the two sides meet again in the second-leg on February 25th. Jose Mourinho will be banned from the touchline after he was sent off in a damaging night for European football.