Real Madrid contradict themselves with disrespectful response to Man City star's Ballon d'Or win
On a night where all the acclaim should have gone towards Rodri, the Manchester City star's Ballon d'Or win was overshadowed by the response of Real Madrid.
Rodri was crowned the world's best player in 2024 in a year where he helped City win an historic fourth Premier League title in succession, before inspiring Spain to Euro 2024 glory in Germany.
The midfielder's importance for both club and country was recognised in last night's awards ceremony in Paris, with the former Atletico Madrid star in tears as he went up to collect the award.
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But on what should have been the crowning night of the 28-year-old's glittering career, the response of Real Madrid to Vinicius Junior coming second to Rodri stole all of the attention.
The Brazilian was joined by Real teammates Jude Bellingham and Dani Carvajal in the top four, with Rodri's City teammate Erling Haaland closing off the top five.
Vinicius' performances helped Real win La Liga and the Champions League last term and while he had a legitimate claim to win the award, he certainly wasn't a shoo-in like Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo have been in previous years.
The 24-year-old did not post goalscoring statistics which would have made any other winner of the award a disgrace. Indeed, while the Brazil international is a generational talent and undeniably brilliant, he scored fewer league goals (15) than West Ham United's Jarrod Bowen (16) last season.
Yet, that did not stop the Spanish champions from accusing UEFA of a lack of respect after boycotting the event - ironically showing just that to Manchester City and Rodri with their over-the-top response.
In a statement to AFP, Los Blancos said: "If the award criteria doesn't give it to Vinicius as the winner, then those same criteria should point to Carvajal as the winner.
"As this was not the case, it is clear that Ballon d'Or-UEFA does not respect Real Madrid. And Real Madrid does not go where it is not respected."
The cries of an agenda from the Spanish capital did not stop there. Scores of Vinicius' teammates hurried to offer their own response on social media.
Eder Militao said: "You are the best and nobody can take that away from you," while Eduardo Camavinga blasted 'football politics' before saying an award cannot say Vinicius isn't the best player in the world.
The Ballon d'Or is awarded by an international jury of specialised journalists, with one representative per country, from the top 100 in the latest FIFA rankings (before the lists are published) for men.
The jury is asked to judge players on individual performances, decisive and impressive character; team performances and achievements; as well as class and fair play.
Of course, Real's players were just backing their teammate, the same way City's players have come out in support of Rodri after his triumph. But it's perhaps unwise to suggest 'football politics' led to one man beating another in a tightly contested vote from countries as far-reaching as Curacao and Cape Verde.
Vinicius has since vowed to prove everyone wrong and win it 10 times over. Good luck to him. But the collective reaction from Madrid to Rodri's triumph has been a complete overreaction and showed much more disrespect than the perceived injustice they have called out.