According to the newspaper A Bola, Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni is determined to play in the second leg of their Champions League round of 16 playoff at the Santiago Bernabéu.
Prestianni was at the center of a controversial incident in the first leg at the Estádio da Luz, where Vinicius Junior accused him of racially abusing him. Kylian Mbappé corroborated the accusation and called on UEFA to ban the Argentine player from European competitions.
Prestianni, who maintains his innocence of all the accusations, missed Benfica’s last league match against Aves, which the Red Devils won 3-0, due to suspension for accumulated yellow cards.
The 20-year-old Prestianni apologized to his Benfica teammates for his behavior during the Real Madrid match, which caused significant distress to the players and negatively impacted their performance.
Meanwhile, Prestianni has made it clear to his coach, José Mourinho, that he is determined to travel to Spain and play against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu, despite the expected backlash from the club’s fans and players.
“The Special One” has yet to make a decision regarding whether to take the player to Madrid and field him, despite all the pressure. An official announcement is expected within the next few hours.
Benfica lost 1-0 at home and now need to win by two goals in the Spanish capital to secure qualification for the Champions League round of 16.
