Karim Benzema gives Vinicius Junior the ‘focus on football’ treatment – ‘He can win the Ballon d’Or when…’ | OneFootball

Vinicius Junior is no stranger from criticism from the Spanish press, but there is a chance he will take it more seriously when it comes from one of his former teammates. Karim Benzema formed a strong partnership with Vinicius during his final two years at the Bernabeu, and has evaluated his progress.

Famously Benzema was once caught telling Ferland Mendy ‘not to pass to him’, but Los Blancos 2022 Champions League triumph was in no small part sustained by the connection between the two. Between Benzema leaving and Kylian Mbappe arriving, Vinicius became the leader of Real Madrid’s attack, but has struggled to hit the same heights since.

‘He has a huge heart’ – Benzema on Vinicius

The veteran France forward had plenty of praise for Vinicius, and explained to Diario AS that perhaps people were too hard on the Brazilian.

“He’s a really good kid, with a huge heart, who wants to learn… He’s phenomenal. That’s just how he is. People put a lot of pressure on him, a lot of pressure. There are players who shouldn’t be put under that much pressure. He’s still young, but he’s already played a lot of games for Real Madrid. You can’t forget what he’s done. You can’t say he’s doing badly now. It’s not fair. He’s doing very well, but he can do more. That’s just his personality.”

Image via Europa Press

“He gets angry when he comes off the pitch. That’s normal. Okay, he shouldn’t do that. People need to know that’s how he is. He makes gestures on and off the pitch. It’s nothing. He’s playing well, he thinks he can do things, get more touches on the ball, and then they substitute him. He made gestures because he doesn’t want to leave the pitch. That’s normal. It’s nothing.”

‘The day he understands’ – Benzema on Vinicius’ Ballon d’Or chances

Benzema went on to evaluate Vinicius’ chances of winning the Ballon d’Or. He of course was the last Real Madrid player to lift the award.

“I think he might win the Ballon d’Or someday. He can do it. It’s difficult, but he can. It will happen the day he understands that he’s on the pitch solely to play and leaves everything else behind. He can win it. He has the quality and he’s in the best place to do it, at Real Madrid. There’s no better place.”

Familiar criticism for Vinicius

While Benzema hints that he believes that the media criticism of Vinicius is too harsh, in which he likely has a point, his advice to Vinicius is perhaps the piece of unsolicited wisdom that Vinicius receives most often. Often he is vocal in his protests, be it towards his own teammates, to opposition fans, or most recently, his own coach, which may be what Benzema is referring to.