Real Marid's young forward Vinicius Jr has drawn some mixed reviews during his first couple of seasons for Los Blancos. He clearly cares a lot and puts in a lot of effort but more often than not, his dribbles, take-ons, and drives are futile.
Vinicius' ineffectiveness was at full display during Real Madrid's 2-2 tie with Borussia Monchengladbach for the 2020-21 UEFA Champions League. He couldn't finish plays and looked lost in the attack from time to time.
That's why some fans urged Zinedine Zidane to take him out of the game and replace him with Luka Jovic, Rodrygo, Eden Hazard, or pretty much any other player, as he was hurting his team's chances to come back from a 0-1 deficit.
However, you'd never expect one of his own teammates to bash him right in the middle of the game, but Karim Benzema went as far as to tell Ferland Mendy not to pass him the ball in the second half.
Karim Benzema Tells Ferland Mendy In French Not To Pass The Ball To Vinicius
"Don't give him the ball. On my mother's life, he's playing against us," Benzema told in clear french to his compatriot, right in front of Thibaut Courtois, who also speaks french. Clearly, he's not a fan of the Brazilian's game.
The strategy seemed to work, though, as Real Madrid scored a couple of late-game goals to tie the game at 2, 17 minutes after Eden Hazard finally replaced the struggling Brazilian forward.
Thus far, the 20-year-old has scored just 12 goals in 87 appearances for Los Blancos, yet he continues to get a lot of confidence and playing time from Zidane. Obviously, growing pains are to be expected from young players at that level, but you wonder how many more opportunities Vinicius will get going forward with Rodrygo and Hazard at full strength.
