Gianluca Prestianni will miss the second leg of Benfica’s Champions League tie against Real Madrid after Uefa rejected the club’s appeal against his suspension.
The Argentine winger was handed a provisional one-match ban after Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr reported alleged racist abuse during last week’s 1-0 defeat in a knockout round play-off first leg.
Benfica said they would appeal the decision, but accepted it was unlikely to “have any practical effect” before Wednesday’s return at the Bernabeu.
Uefa has imposed the ban on a provisional basis, pending the result of a full investigation by an ethics and disciplinary inspector, and further punishment could still be handed out to the 20-year-old.
Prestianni trained alongside his Benfica team-mates at Real Madrid’s stadium on Tuesday in the hope his ban could be overturned in time to feature.
But the Portuguese club’s request was dismissed by Uefa’s Appeals Body and the player remains provisionally suspended for their next match in European club competition, which is Wednesday’s game.
Prestianni would otherwise have been eligible to face the Spanish hosts while the investigation took place.
However, European football’s governing body said there was enough evidence to adequately support a “prima facie” case against him in relation to the use of discriminatory language.
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