Karim Benzema destroys Vinicius Junior during Real Madrid’s draw with Gladbach and tells Ferland Mendy not to pass to him
Real Madrid star Karim Benzema slammed Vinicius Junior’s first-half performance against Gladbach to fellow Frenchman Ferland Mendy while the young attacker was stood right by them.
Despite winning the Clasico against Barcelona at the weekend, Real’s struggles continued in the Champions League on Tuesday night as they fell behind to Bundesliga outfit Borussia Monchengladbach just a week after losing to Shakhtar Donetsk.
A brace from Marcus Thuram either side of half-time put the hosts two goals up but Real managed to respond late on, with Benzema netting in the 87th minute before Casemiro grabbed a stoppage-time equaliser.
Now footage has emerged after the game showing Benzema absolutely destroying Vinicius in the tunnel during the half-time break, speaking in French about the young Brazilian while he was stood clueless just a few feet away.
"He plays trash brother," Benzema told left-back Mendy according to Telefoot’s tunnel cam, with goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois also appearing to listen in.
"Don’t play with him. On my mother’s life."
Mendy appears to have similar concerns over Vinicius’ first-half display, replying: "He is playing against us."
The pair did appear to address their concerns with the Brazilian as they walked out onto the pitch for the restart, though, with the trio involved in an animated discussion as Vinicius received some instructions from his teammates.
It did not do much good however, with Vinicius hauled off by Zinedine Zidane as his first sub of the night 20 minutes later, with Eden Hazard coming on instead, and the side mounted their late comeback without the Brazilian on the pitch.
The draw still leaves Real bottom of their Champions League group ahead of back-to-back games against Inter Milan.