UEFA on Monday suspended midfielder Gianluca Prestianni from Benfica’s Champions League play-off second leg against Real Madrid this week after he was accused of racially abusing Vinicius Junior.
UEFA’s disciplinary body, who are still investigating the alleged incident from last week’s first leg, said in a statement they had “decided to provisionally suspend Mr. Gianluca Prestianni for the next UEFA club competition match for which he would otherwise be eligible”.
Prestianni will therefore be unable to feature for Benfica on Wednesday at the Santiago Bernabeu as the Portuguese side bid to overturn a 1-0 deficit and reach the last 16.