{"id":43667,"date":"2026-02-23T23:38:25","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T04:38:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/02\/23\/jose-mourinho-makes-big-decision-ahead-of-match-against-real-madrid-after-uefa-suspends-gianluca-prestiani\/"},"modified":"2026-02-23T23:38:25","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T04:38:25","slug":"jose-mourinho-makes-big-decision-ahead-of-match-against-real-madrid-after-uefa-suspends-gianluca-prestiani","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/02\/23\/jose-mourinho-makes-big-decision-ahead-of-match-against-real-madrid-after-uefa-suspends-gianluca-prestiani\/","title":{"rendered":"Jose Mourinho makes big decision ahead of match against Real Madrid after UEFA suspends Gianluca Prestiani"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_74 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/02\/23\/jose-mourinho-makes-big-decision-ahead-of-match-against-real-madrid-after-uefa-suspends-gianluca-prestiani\/#Gianluca_Prestiani_handed_provisional_suspension\" >Gianluca Prestiani handed provisional suspension<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/2026\/02\/23\/jose-mourinho-makes-big-decision-ahead-of-match-against-real-madrid-after-uefa-suspends-gianluca-prestiani\/#Jose_Mourinho_skips_media_duties_after_backlash_over_%E2%80%98gaslighting\" >Jose Mourinho skips media duties after backlash over &#8216;gaslighting&#8217;<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<!-- Article Start --><\/p>\n<p><strong>According to Sky Sports, Gianluca Prestiani has been handed a provisional one-match suspension by UEFA.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The ruling ensures that the Argentine winger will miss Wednesday&#8217;s crucial second leg against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernab\u00e9u.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Download the official CaughtOffSide app to get all the latest news and updates straight to your phone. above <span role=\"presentation\"><u>apple<\/u><\/span>  &#038; <span role=\"presentation\"><u>Google play<\/u><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The decision came as a direct result of the ongoing investigation into allegations of racist abuse directed at Real Madrid star Vinicius Junior during the first leg in Lisbon.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Gianluca_Prestiani_handed_provisional_suspension\"><\/span>Gianluca Prestiani handed provisional suspension<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<figure style=\"width: 612px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">(Photo by Eric Verhoeven\/Socrates\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The suspension stems from last Tuesday&#8217;s heated battle at the Estadio da Luz. After Vinicius scored the winning goal in the second half, the match was stopped for nearly 10 minutes after Prestiani reportedly called the Brazilian a &#8220;monkey&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>The 20-year-old covered his mouth with his shirt during the conversation, but Kylian Mbappe corroborated this claim, reportedly telling officials he heard the slur repeated five times.<\/p>\n<p>UEFA&#8217;s Management, Ethics and Disciplinary Committee confirmed the ban on Monday, saying the final decision was issued &#8220;without prejudice&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>If found guilty after a full investigation, Prestiani could be suspended for at least 10 games.<\/p>\n<p>Benfica announced they would appeal against the provisional measures but admitted it was unlikely to be resolved in time for Wednesday&#8217;s kick-off.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Jose_Mourinho_skips_media_duties_after_backlash_over_%E2%80%98gaslighting\"><\/span>Jose Mourinho skips media duties after backlash over &#8216;gaslighting&#8217;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Sky Sports has further heightened tensions by reporting that Benfica manager Jose Mourinho has decided to exercise his right to skip all pre- and post-match media duties ahead of the team&#8217;s trip to Madrid.<\/p>\n<p>Mourinho is currently serving a touchline ban himself after being sent off in the first leg, allowing him to hand over reporting responsibilities to his assistant Joao Trallan.<\/p>\n<p>Mourinho faced a barrage of criticism for his post-match comments last week, in which he appeared to blame Vinicius for the incident.<\/p>\n<p>The &#8216;Special One&#8217; drew the ire of anti-racism group Kick It Out, which accused it of &#8216;gaslighting&#8217; after suggesting the Brazilian&#8217;s goal celebration had incited the home crowd and players.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Something always happens in the stadium where Vinicius plays,&#8221; Mourinho told Amazon Prime, a statement that sparked a fierce rebuttal from Bayern Munich manager Vincent Kompany, who called it a &#8220;big mistake&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Mourinho appears intent on shielding himself from the mounting pressure by avoiding the cameras this week as he faces the difficult task of overturning a depleted and distracted Benfica side from a 1-0 deficit in the Spanish capital.<\/p>\n<p><!-- Article End -->\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>According to Sky Sports, Gianluca Prestiani has been handed a provisional one-match suspension by UEFA. The ruling ensures that the Argentine winger will miss Wednesday&#8217;s crucial second leg against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernab\u00e9u. Download the official CaughtOffSide app to get all the latest news and updates straight to your phone. above apple &#038; [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43668,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[40],"class_list":{"0":"post-43667","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-football"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43667"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43667\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43668"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}