Vinicius Jr has reportedly fallen out of favour under Zinedine Zidane, with the issue stemming from back in August when the Brazilian is believed to have been texting during a Real Madrid team talk.
According to AS, the 20-year-old did not take any notice of what his manager was saying prior to Real's Champions League round of 16 second leg defeat to Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium in August.
Vinicius was benched for Eden Hazard in the 2-1 loss and was on his mobile phone instead of paying attention. Zidane refrained from saying anything at the time but was said to be fuming.
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Fast forward to January and the former Flamengo youngster has not started the last five La Liga games for Los Blancos.
Against Osasuna at the weekend, he was an unused substitute in a disappointing 0-0 draw and has fallen down the pecking order for the 13-time European champions.
In total, Vinicius has made 21 appearances in all competitions, scoring three and assisted as many.
He hit headlines in October after Karim Benzema and Ferland Mendy were criticising him in the tunnel while he was stood right behind them.
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In footage of him speaking to Ferland Mendy in French as players got ready to start the second half of the Champions League game against Borussia Monchengladbach, Benzema allegedly bad-mouthed Vinicius and said, "He does what he wants," as per Téléfoot.
"Don't play with him, brother. He plays against us."
Mendy only passed to him a further three times, while Benzema did not pass to the young Brazilian in the second half prior to him being brought off for Hazard in the 2-2 draw.
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They did clear the air after Benzema apologised, with Zidane drawing a line under the matter.
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Football News, Football, Zinedine Zidane, Real Madrid, Vinicius JR
