Former Chelsea midfielder John Mikel Obi has publicly criticised his ex-manager Jose Mourinho, claiming the veteran coach will know he has "f***ed up" following his response to allegations involving Vinicius Jr and Gianluca Prestianni. The controversy erupted during the first leg of Real Madrid's Champions League play-off tie against Benfica, when Vinicius Jr accused Prestianni of calling him a "monkey".

The allegation has been denied by Prestianni, who covered his face by lifting his shirt during the alleged incident.

But European football's governing body UEFA confirmed on Monday that the Argentine winger has been handed a provisional one-match ban as investigations continue, ruling him out of the second leg.

In the immediate aftermath of the match, Mourinho, now in charge of Benfica, faced backlash for remarks many felt shifted focus onto Vini Jr's conduct rather than addressing the seriousness of the racism claim.

"When you score a goal like that, you celebrate in a respectful way," Mourinho said post-match.

When pressed on whether he believed Vini Jr had incited the crowd, he 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 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 again about the celebrations, 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 expects apology from Mourinho

Speaking on his Obi One Podcast, Obi, who played under Mourinho during two spells at Chelsea, described the comments as a significant misstep.

"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'," the Nigerian cult hero said.

"So for him to come out and say 'Oh yeah, Vini 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."

😡 ‘IT’S CRAZY’@mikel_john_obi has his say on the Vini Jnr racism storm…

🗣️ “Are you telling me there should be a playbook on how black players should celebrate… there should be a rule for that?” pic.twitter.com/dbWukYfDrT

— The Obi One Podcast (@obionepodcast) February 23, 2026

Mikel added that he expects his former manager to address the matter publicly: "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."

Mourinho takes tough measures with Benfica

Since the fallout, Mourinho reportedly banned all mention of Real Madrid within the Benfica squad as attention turned to domestic duties.

After a 3-0 win over AVS at the weekend, he declined to elaborate on the criticism.

"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."

With Mourinho suspended following a red card last week and investigations ongoing, the spotlight remains firmly on both the Champions League tie and the wider issue of racism in European soccer.

But after pressure from a number of big names in the game, and a close ally in Obi, Mourinho will be under increasing pressure to put things right.