Tete Blames Benzema-Vinicius Rift On Real Madrid’s Defeat To Shakhtar
Shakhtar Donetsk forward Tete believes Real Madrid’s defeat to the Miners in their Champions League group stage opener could have accounted for the recent friction in the Los Blancos squad.
Despite being without ten key first team players against the 13-time European champions due to coronavirus infections, Shakhtar shocked Real Madrid 3-2 at the Alfredo di Stefano stadium on matchday one, with Tete scoring one and assisting another.
Zinedine Zidane’s men again failed to win on matchday two, coming from two goals down to draw 2-2 against Borussia Monchengladbach in Germany.
It was during that game when Karim Benzema was caught on camera telling some of his teammates not to pass to Vinicius Junior as Real Madrid trailed at half-time.
Zidane has since played down the incident, insisting the pair’s relationship remain intact but Tete believes it could have occurred because of their home loss to the Ukrainian champions, especially as Real Madrid faced the prospect of being without a point after two games.
"I think so," Tete told Stats Perform News when asked if losing to Shakhtar caused something of a crisis for Madrid.
"I believe they suffered some impact from that defeat. We were facing some issues in the squad due to COVID-19, but the most important thing was that we proved the strength of our squad.
"Many people expected us to lose by at least three goals in Madrid, they thought we weren't capable of dealing with the situation, but we surprised everyone. We beat Madrid in Madrid, the most successful club in the Champions League.
"So, I believe it was a shock for them, so if that problem between Benzema and Vinicius really happened, which I don't know if is true or not, but I do think Madrid were impacted after that defeat to us."
