Karim Benzema Reportedly Told Ferland Mendy To 'Stop Passing The Ball To Vinicius Jr' At Half-Time

Real Madrid forward Karim Benzema reportedly told teammate Ferland Mendy not to pass to Vinicius Jr during last night's Champions League clash against Borussia Monchengladbach.

It was another disappointing night for Zinedine Zidane and his Los Blancos side.

Gladbach striker Marcus Thuram, son of former France international Lilian Thuram, scored a brace to put the home team 2-0 up after 58 minutes, and a shock looked to be on the cards.

But despite a poor start, Madrid managed to find a way back into the Group B clash thanks to late goals from Karim Benzema and Casemiro.

Madrid now sit bottom of their Champions League group on one point following last week's shock 3-2 defeat to Shakthar Donetsk; a disastrous start to their campaign in Europe.

And to make things worse, cameras reportedly picked up a conversation between Karim Benzema and Ferland Mendy in the tunnel on Tuesday night.

Benzema allegedly tells Mendy in French not to pass to Vinicius Jr, who was just inches away from the conversation. "He does what he wants," Benzema says per Téléfoot. "Don't play with him, brother. He plays against us."

Footage of the incident soon emerged online as social media reacted to the controversial moment.

Benzema's comments come just days after Real Madrid midfielder Isco was caught on camera complaining about Zinedine Zidane ahead of Saturday's El Clasico at the Nou Camp.

The Spaniard has started just twice for Los Blancos in their opening seven games of the season.

In those games, the 28-year-old was brought off in the 57th minute against Real Vallodolid in September and a month later, in last week's shock 1-0 defeat to Cadiz, he was hauled off at half-time.

The midfielder has also made two substitute appearances this season against Real Betis and Levante but clearly, Isco is far from happy with his playing time in recent weeks.

In footage captured by Spanish channel Movistar+ before Real Madrid's 3-1 win against Barcelona, the player hits out at Zidane over his lack of minutes.

"If he has to take me off, it's in the 50th or 60th minute of the game." Isco says. "Sometimes at half time. If he has to bring me on, it's in the 80th minute."

Real Madrid teammate Marcelo then bursts into laughter while Luka Modric smiles in the background.

Thoughts on Benzema's actions at half-time during the 2-2 draw against Gladbach last night?

Let us know in the comments.

Featured Image Credit: RMC Sport/El Chiringuito

Topics: Football News, Vinicius Junior, Football, Ferland Mendy, Karim Benzema, Champions League, Real Madrid

Jack Kenmare

Jack Kenmare is a writer at SPORTbible. He's interviewed some of the biggest names in sport, including Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Pele, Carles Puyol and Tim Henman. He dabbles in all things sport but football is his biggest passion. He was once hit in the head by a wayward strike from Nicky Butt and lived to tell the tale.

@jackkenmare_