John Obi Mikel has claimed his former boss Jose Mourinho will know he has ‘f***ed up’ regarding his response to the Vinicius Jr racism row.
Vinicius Jr accused Gianluca Prestianni of calling him a ‘monkey’ while covering his face during the first leg of Real Madrid‘s Champions League play-off tie against Benfica.
On Monday, European football’s governing body UEFA announced Prestianni has been given a provisional one-match ban, a sanction which rules him out of the second leg on Wednesday.
The measure comes as UEFA continues to investigate the allegation of racial abuse, a claim Prestianni has denied.
Benfica boss Mourinho has faced a backlash for his post-match comments after last week’s match.
Mourinho suggested Vinicius Jr had incited the crowd with his celebration after scoring the only goal of the match and referenced Benfica’s legend Eusebio as proof that the Portuguese side are not racist.
John Obi Mikel has stated that Jose Mourinho was ‘clumsy’ with his post-match comments after Vinicius Jr accused a Benfica player of making a racist comment to him last week
Mourinho has courted criticism for claiming Vinicius ‘incited’ the unsavoury scenes
The Benfica boss referenced club legend Eusebio as he defended the Portuguese side from allegations of racism
‘When you score a goal like that, you celebrate in a respectful way,’ Mourinho said post-match.
When asked if he believed Vinicius had incited the crowd, Mourinho replied ‘Yeah, I believe so.’
‘The words they exchange, Prestianni with Vinicius, I want to be independent. I don’t comment about it.
‘When he was arguing about racism I told him the biggest person in the history of this club was black [Eusebio]. This club, the last thing it is is racist, so if in his mind it was something in relation to that, this is Benfica.
‘There is something wrong because it happens in every stadium. Every stadium that Vinicius plays [in] something happens. Always.’
Later asked if he believed Vinicius “incited” the home crowd and players with his celebration, the Benfica boss added: “Yeah, I believe so. The words they exchange, Prestianni with Vinicius, I want to be independent. I don’t comment about it.
Mikel, who played under Mourinho in his two spells as Chelsea boss, has claimed the veteran coach will know that he has ‘f***ed up’ with his comments following the match.
Speaking on his Obi One Podcast, Mikel stated that Mourinho’s comments were ‘clumsy’ and that he expects his former manager to offer an apology at some stage in the future.
The incident occured just moments after Vini Jr scored the only goal of the first leg in Lisbon
Mikel claimed Mourinho will be aware that he ‘f***ed up’ and said he expects his former boss to apologise at some point
Mikel said: ‘What I expected to hear from my old boss, from my gaffer [was] “Yes it is under investigation, but there is not place for racism there, there is no place for such thing, but let’s wait until it is concluded, there is no place for that”.
‘So for him to come out and say “Oh yeah, Vinicius Jr shouldn’t have celebrated the way he did”, that was a clumsy, clumsy comment from Jose Mourinho.
‘He will be the first, he knows, he will be the first to know “I’ve f***ed up here”. He is a smart, smart guy, a very smart guy, he knows.’
Mikel added: ‘I don’t know the reason why he hasn’t apologised, but I expect him to come out at some point and make a statement.
‘There is nobody who has played with Jose Mourinho that has a bad word to say about him, especially when it comes to racism, especially, zero, absolutely zero.’
‘He will be the first to say “I f***ed up, it was after the game, emotions were running high, I didn’t think about my statement, I didn’t think about what I was going to say”.
‘He is an experienced manager, he is a smart guy, he knows what he should have said.
‘The statement that he made is a massive, massive, huge mistake.’
Gianluca Prestianni (right) has been handed a one-match suspension after allegations of racial abuse toward Vinicius Jr (left)
Prestianni is accused of calling Vinicius Jr a ‘monkey’ and will miss the second leg of Benfica’s Champions League play-off with Real Madrid
Daily Mail Sport revealed last week that Mourinho had banned all mention of Real Madrid among his Benfica squad following the allegations of racism, as they focused on their league match on the weekend.
Mourinho, however, did offer comments to Benfica’s in-house media ahead of the weekend.
‘The game was truly demanding, in every aspect,’ Mourinho said. ‘Until the 50th minute, it was a game of maximum intensity, both physically and tactically, requiring the concentration needed to play a game of that level.
‘But I also have to acknowledge that from the 50th minute until now – and this won’t end our conversation – it hasn’t been easy to manage emotionally everything that has happened and continues to happen.’
When questioned about the backlash he has received at a post-match press conference after their 3-0 win over AVS, Mourinho said ‘I don’t want to comment. I repeat that it has been difficult for everyone, I won’t specify the level of difficulty. Today we were all able to be professional and do our job.’
Mourinho will not conduct a press conference ahead of Benfica’s second leg against Real Madrid due to being suspended after being shown a red card last week.
Benfica will be without Prestianni, who could face up to 10 matches on the sidelines through suspension if he is found guilty of racial abuse by UEFA.
In response to the one-match ban, Benfica released a statement in which they revealed that they will appeal the decision.
Mourinho, who has been roundly criticised for his post-match comments, will not hold a press conference ahead of Wednesday’s second leg
The Portuguese side said: ‘Sport Lisboa e Benfica has been informed of UEFA’s decision to impose a provisional one-match suspension on its player Gianluca Prestianni, as part of the ongoing investigation into the incident that occurred during the match against Real Madrid.
‘The Club regrets being deprived of the player while the process is still under investigation and will appeal this UEFA decision, even though the deadlines in question are unlikely to have any practical effect on the second leg of the Champions League.
‘Sport Lisboa e Benfica also reaffirms its unwavering commitment to combating all forms of racism or discrimination, values that are part of its historical identity and are reflected in its daily actions, its global community, the work of the Benfica Foundation, and major figures in the Club’s history, such as Eusebio.’
The allegations against Prestianni came moments after Vinicius Jr gave Los Blancos the lead at the Estadio da Luz in Lisbon, with Benfica midfielder walking towards the Brazilian following the celebrations.
Moments later, after the Argentine could be seen lifting his shirt over his mouth, Vinicius raced over to referee Francois Letexier to report racial abuse.
Madrid star Kylian Mbappe claimed Prestianni racially abused his team-mate five times, but the Argentinian insisted his opponent ‘misinterpreted what he thinks he heard’.
The Benfica midfielder has since given evidence to the investigation, telling UEFA chiefs that he did not say ‘mono’ – Spanish for ‘monkey’ – but instead directed a homophobic slur towards Vinicius, according to ESPN.
Madrid midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni also told reporters that the Benfica player had claimed to have used a homophobic slur in the immediate aftermath of the match.