According to reports, Real Madrid’s 3-4 defeat against Barcelona in the La Liga return fixture has led to heavy criticism of the players’ performances, with Vinicius Junior being one of the players under scrutiny.

Benito strongly criticized Vinicius Junior’s performance and told Cadena SER: “The next coach has a lot of work to do. He must change the mentality of some players. You cannot play football like Vinicius—defending with your eyes, avoiding opponents, not pressing…”

He added, having already brutally criticized Real Madrid’s first-half performance: “The first half was 0-6. We must be realistic. Vinicius’ performance was like Rodrygo’s in the Copa del Rey final. Walking around, defending with his eyes, nothing! It was a disaster. He should have been substituted. What Vinicius did is unjustifiable. It’s shameful, truly shameful.

“I am upset with his defensive attitude. I don’t want to judge whether his dribbles were successful or not, but in such an important match for his team and club, he allowed opponents to easily bypass him. Such behavior is unacceptable for an athlete. If it were up to me, I would have substituted him earlier.

“I don’t understand why he doesn’t give 100%. Maybe it would be justifiable in a less important match, but in such a final… defending with his eyes?! He was lazy in runs, lacked competitiveness, wasn’t aggressive… Well, he needs work. He is an extraordinary player, but if he doesn’t work for Real Madrid without the ball, he can’t do much.”

However, Benito had a positive view of Kylian Mbappé’s performance and added: “Good individual performance, a brilliant Mbappé above the rest. But this team lacks organization. If we want a competitive team, fundamental changes must be made in all phases of the game. The forwards are too comfortable in the defensive phase, and this disrupts the team’s defensive structure.”