The Benfica winger suggests Los Blancos may have exploited the situation as his teammate is set to miss Wednesday’s game after receiving provisional UEFA suspension
Benfica winger Dodi Lukebakio has broken his silence on the racism controversy involving teammate Gianluca Prestianni and Vinícius Júnior, questioning whether the allegations are genuine or whether Real Madrid exploited the situation.
Lukebakio acknowledged uncertainty about what Prestianni actually said during the first-leg confrontation at Estadio da Luz that led to a 10-minute match stoppage and has now resulted in UEFA suspending the Argentine for Wednesday’s Champions League playoff second leg at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu.
“I’ve talked about this a lot with other people in the past, wondering how I would react if it happened to me, because we usually experience it from a distance,” Lukebakio said to Pickx+Sports.
“It’s true that people talk and speculate, but in the end, we don’t know what he really said. Is it true or was it an exaggeration to take advantage of the situation? I think it’s also possible that Real Madrid wanted to take advantage of this.”
Lukebakio then outlined his position if investigations ultimately confirm racist abuse did occur, establishing a clear moral framework whilst maintaining current uncertainty about the truth.
“All I hope is that what is said is false. Because if it’s true, I can’t accept it,” Lukebakio added. “I am against injustice. And any injustice deserves to pay the consequences.”
Prestianni will miss second leg against Real Madrid
That statement attempts to balance scepticism about the allegations with unequivocal condemnation if they’re proven accurate.
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His comments arrive as Prestianni serves a provisional one-game UEFA suspension pending ongoing investigations.
The governing body appointed an ethics and disciplinary inspector after Vinícius accused Prestianni of subjecting him to racist abuse during last Tuesday’s match, with the Brazilian reporting the incident to referee François Letexier and activating the anti-racism protocol.
The case gained additional weight when Kylian Mbappé alleged he heard Prestianni call Vinícius a “monkey” five times during the confrontation.
Prestianni had covered his mouth with his shirt when addressing Vinícius, creating the evidentiary challenges that make this case so difficult to resolve definitively.
Available footage shows that mouth-covering gesture, rendering lip-reading impossible and leaving investigators dependent on conflicting testimony rather than visual confirmation.
Benfica have announced plans to appeal the provisional suspension, expressing regret about being “deprived” of the winger for such a crucial fixture.
However, the club acknowledged they didn’t expect to successfully prevent Prestianni from missing Wednesday’s second leg, suggesting they recognise UEFA’s position is unlikely to change before the match.
