Benfica player Gianluca Prestianni denied making racist insults towards Vinicius Junior, claiming the Real Madrid player misinterpreted his words during their Champions League match. "I want to clarify that at no time did I direct racist insults at the player Vinicius Junior, who unfortunately misinterpreted what he thought he heard," Prestianni stated.
The Argentine player also mentioned regretting threats he received from Real Madrid players. Meanwhile, Mbappé defended Vini Jr., claiming he heard Prestianni call the Brazilian "Mono" (monkey in Spanish) five times. Uefa has not yet commented on the case, with the teams set to meet again on Wednesday.