No Mourinho and no Prestianni for Benfica in Champions League match against Real Madrid

By Canadian Press on February 23, 2026.

MADRID (AP) — There won’t be another confrontation between Vinícius Júnior and Gianluca Prestianni in the Champions League this week.

Real Madrid and Benfica will meet at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium on Wednesday, but UEFA on Monday provisionally suspended Prestianni for one match following accusations he racially abused Vinícius in the first leg of the knockout round last week.

Madrid won 1-0 in Lisbon with Vinícius scoring a second-half winner. The game was halted for nearly 10 minutes after the Brazil forward scored and celebrated by the Benfica corner flag, upsetting local fans and players. After being confronted by Prestianni, Vinícius accused the Argentine player of calling him “monkey.” Prestianni has denied racially insulting Vinícius.

The anti-racism protocol was activated but no further action was taken during the match as there was no evidence against Prestianni, who covered his mouth with his shirt while talking to Vinícius. The Madrid forward was shown a yellow card after his celebration.

UEFA said the decision from its control, ethics and disciplinary Body (CEDB) is related to a discriminatory behavior.

“This is without prejudice to any ruling that the UEFA disciplinary bodies may subsequently make following the conclusion of the ongoing investigation and its respective submission to the UEFA disciplinary bodies,” it said in a statement.

Prestianni did not play in Benfica’s 3-0 win over AVS on Saturday because of a yellow card suspension, but he was expected to be on the field along with Vinícius during Wednesday’s match at the Bernabeu.

Vinícius scored Madrid’s goal in the team’s 2-1 loss at Osasuna on Saturday.

Mourinho out

Missing for Benfica on Wednesday will be coach José Mourinho, who was sent off late in the first leg for complaining with the referee. The former Madrid coach criticized Vinícius for celebrating his goal by the Benfica flag.

Benfica said Mourinho was not going to attend the pre-game news conference on Tuesday, with his assistant taking over.

Surprising Bodø/Glimt

On Tuesday, small Norwegian club Bodø/Glimt will look to keep its surprising run going when it takes a two-goal advantage for the second leg at Inter Milan.

The first-leg win followed up back-to-back wins against Manchester City and Atletico Madrid in the league phase.

Inter, last year’s Champions League runner-up, will hope to overcome the first-match deficit and show that the loss in Norway was a fluke amid a run of seven wins in eight games across all competitions.

“Sometimes we produce our best in big matches, other times we don’t,” Inter defender Manuel Akanji said. “But there aren’t two different versions of Inter. Yes, we lost to Bodø/Glimt last time out in the Champions League, but we’re still the same team capable of great things.”

Juve’s crisis

Another Italian club who will need a comeback will be Juventus when it hosts Galatasaray on Wednesday after losing 5-2 in the first leg in Turkey.

Juventus has been struggling, though, and is coming off a 2-0 loss at home to Como that hurt its hopes of Champions League qualification next season. It was Juventus’ third straight defeat across all competitions and its fifth game in a row without a win.

Focused PSG

Both defending European champion Paris Saint-Germain and Monaco won in the French league this weekend ahead of their second leg in Paris on Wednesday. Monaco’s 3-2 victory over Lens allowed PSG to regain the French league lead with a 3-0 win against Metz.

PSG came back from two goals down against Monaco to win the first leg 3-2. Désiré Doue, who scored twice against Monaco, also found the net in the win against Metz.

Atletico Madrid rebounds

Atletico squandered a two-goal lead and conceded late in a 3-3 draw in its first-leg at Club Brugge for its second game without a win in all competitions.

Diego Simeone’s team rebounded ahead of Tuesday’s return match by defeating Espanyol 4-2 in the Spanish league on Saturday. Ademola Lookman scored again, earning his fourth goal in six matches since being signed by Atletico.

“It’s always important to win ahead of an important match like the one we have on Tuesday,” Simeone said.

Other matchups

Also Tuesday, Newcastle will be in control when it hosts Qarabag defending a 6-1 first-leg win, while Bayer Leverkusen will bring home a 2-0 lead from its win at Olympiacos. Borussia Dortmund also won 2-0 in the first leg against Atalanta ahead of the return game in Italy.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Tales Azzoni, The Associated Press

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