Who:\u00a0<\/strong>Real Madrid vs Benfica Real Madrid carry a slender 1-0 lead over Benfica going into the second leg of a Champions League playoff tie that has been overshadowed by allegations of racism.<\/p>\n list of 4 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n UEFA has suspended Benfica midfielder Gianluca Prestianni from the second leg on Wednesday after he was accused of racially abusing Real Madrid\u2019s Vinicius Jr, who scored the only goal in the first game in Lisbon last week.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Benfica coach Jose Mourinho, who is also suspended for the second leg, has come under fire for criticising Vinicius for his effusive goal celebration.<\/p>\n So the Portuguese side will be expecting an especially hostile welcome at the Bernabeu as they try to overturn their one-goal deficit and reach the last 16.<\/p>\n Vinicius wrote that \u201cracists are above all cowards\u201d on social media after the game while Madrid striker Kylian Mbappe backed his teammate and said he had heard Prestianni calling the winger a \u201cmonkey\u201d.<\/p>\n The 20-year-old Benfica midfielder, who hid his mouth with his shirt during the confrontation with Vinicius, insisted he did not racially abuse the Brazilian forward after his stunning goal at the Estadio da Luz.<\/p>\n Prestianni could miss at least 10 games if European football\u2019s governing body finds he racially abused Vinicius.<\/p>\n Mourinho waded into the controversy by saying Vinicius\u2019s goal celebration was disrespectful and insisting Benfica was not a racist club because their biggest icon, Eusebio, was Black.<\/p>\n Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois said he disagreed with Mourinho\u2019s words.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the end of the day, Mourinho is Mourinho. As a coach, you\u2019re always, I think, going to defend your club and what your player has told you,\u201d Courtois said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe only thing that disappoints me a bit is using Vini\u2019s celebration. I don\u2019t think Vini did anything wrong there,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think we can justify alleged racism because of a celebration.\u201d<\/p>\n Benfica\u2019s boss has not set foot in the Santiago Bernabeu since leaving Real Madrid in 2013, and he cannot sit in the dugout for the playoff\u2019s second leg after being sent off during his team\u2019s 1-0 first-leg defeat in Lisbon last week for making vituperative complaints about the officials from the touchline.<\/p>\n Mourinho said referee Francois Letexier was avoiding booking Madrid players who were at risk of suspension for the second leg.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve had my butt on the bench for 1,400 games and [I could see that] he knew perfectly well who he could book and who he couldn\u2019t,\u201d Mourinho complained bitterly.<\/p>\n \u201cI [won\u2019t be] sitting on the bench. I can\u2019t go to the dressing room. I can\u2019t communicate with the team,\u201d he added. \u201cIt\u2019s hard for me, but my teammates and my assistants are there. They\u2019ll do their job.\u201d<\/p>\n Benfica also said Mourinho was not going to attend the pregame news conference on Tuesday and his assistant would take over.<\/p>\n Real Madrid coach Alvaro Arbeloa called on UEFA to make their fight against racism into more than just a slogan after the alleged abuse of Vinicius Jr.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a great opportunity to mark a turning point in the fight against racism,\u201d Arbeloa told reporters on Tuesday.<\/p>\n \u201cUEFA, which has always been and has led this fight against racism, now has the chance not to leave it at just a slogan, at just a nice banner before matches, and I hope that they seize this opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n Arbeloa said he believed Vinicius will thrive on Wednesday at the Santiago Bernabeu as the record 15-time champions bid to reach the last 16.<\/p>\n \u201cVinicius Jr has always shown a lot of bravery and a lot of character,\u201d Arbeloa said. \u201cThat is always his response. It always has been, and I think it always will be.<\/p>\n \u201cHe is a fighter, and I\u2019m sure tomorrow he will go out to fight and have a great game and keep showing he\u2019s one of the best players on the planet.\u201d<\/p>\n This is only the sixth meeting between two of the biggest clubs from Spain and Portugal. Benfica have won three of the games while Real Madrid have won two.<\/p>\n The two clubs also faced each other in a league stage match in January when Mourinho\u2019s team stunned his former club in a 4-2 win that allowed Benfica to qualify and prevented Madrid from automatically reaching the round of 16.<\/p>\n Madrid are the record winners of Europe\u2019s premier club competition with 15 titles to their name, the last coming in 2024.<\/p>\n Benfica have lifted the trophy on two occasions, and both of those came in consecutive years.<\/p>\n In what was regarded as Benfica\u2019s golden era, Portuguese legend Eusebio helped the team to wins against Barcelona in 1961 and Real Madrid in 1962.<\/p>\n A hat-trick from Hungary\u2019s finest export, Ferenc Puskas, could not save Madrid as Benfica earned a 5-3 win that included a double from Eusebio.<\/p>\n Jude Bellingham, Dani Ceballos and Eder Militao have all been ruled out through injuries while centre back Dean Huijsen, who missed the 2-1 defeat at Osasuna over the weekend with a muscular problem, is a major doubt.<\/p>\n Winger Rodrygo will be unavailable due to a suspension but would anyway be a doubt as he struggles to recover from a hamstring issue.<\/p>\n Raul Asencio is available again after returning from suspension.<\/p>\n Vinicius Jr will be looking to score for the fifth game in a row as he is set to start up front alongside Mbappe.<\/p>\n Predicted starting XI<\/strong><\/p>\n Courtois (goalkeeper); Alexander-Arnold, Asencio, Rudiger, Carreras; Valverde, Guler, Tchouameni, Guler; Mbappe, Vinicius Jr<\/p>\n The Portuguese side\u2019s only injury concern appears to be midfielder Joao Veloso, who will miss the game with a shoulder issue.<\/p>\n Richard Rios could come into the midfield to replace the suspended Prestianni.<\/p>\n Benfica will look to Greek striker Vangelis Pavlidis to add to his 28 goals in all competitions this season as he is set to lead the line.<\/p>\n Predicted starting XI:<\/strong><\/p>\n Trubin (goalkeeper); Dedic, Araujo, Otamendi, Dahl; Rios, Aursnes; Lukebakio, Rafa, Schjelderup; Pavlidis<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Who:\u00a0Real Madrid vs BenficaWhat:\u00a0Champions League playoff, second legWhere:\u00a0Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid, SpainWhen:\u00a0Wednesday at 9pm (20:00 GMT)How to follow:\u00a0We\u2019ll have all the build-up on\u00a0Al Jazeera Sport from 17:00 GMT in advance of our live text commentary stream. Real Madrid carry a slender 1-0 lead over Benfica going into the second leg of a Champions League playoff tie […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13330,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-europe-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13329"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13329\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
What:\u00a0<\/strong>Champions League playoff, second leg
Where:\u00a0<\/strong>Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain
When:\u00a0<\/strong>Wednesday at 9pm (20:00 GMT)
How to follow:\u00a0<\/strong>We\u2019ll have all the build-up on\u00a0Al Jazeera Sport from 17:00 GMT in advance of our live text commentary stream.<\/p>\nRecommended Stories <\/h2>\n
![\"Vinicius](\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/GettyImages-2261683038-1771858899.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C513&quality=80\")
Courtois \u2018disappointed\u2019 in Mourinho\u2019s response<\/h2>\n
Mourinho\u2019s Bernabeu homecoming upended by suspension<\/h2>\n
![\"LISBON,](\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/getty_6994e1b47f-1771364788.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C513&quality=80\")
Arbeloa says UEFA have chance for \u2018turning point\u2019 against racism<\/h2>\n
Head-to-head<\/h2>\n
How many times have Madrid and Benfica won the Champions League?<\/h2>\n
![\"Soccer](\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/reuters_6994daab-1771362987.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C499&quality=80\")
Real Madrid\u2019s team news<\/h2>\n
Benfica\u2019s team news<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"