Real Madrid boycott Ballon d’Or as Vinicius Jr loses to Rodri

real MadridRussian national team players did not come to the Ballon d’Or ceremony in Paris because of the star forward Vinicius Jr. was defeated in the fight for the main prize Manchester City and midfielder of the Spanish national team Rhodri.

Real Madrid delegation cancels trip to Monday evening ceremony at the last minute when “Leaked results” of the prestigious award revealed that Rodri received the most votes, ahead of Vinicius and Jude Bellingham.

Real Madrid was defeated 4-0 by rivals Barcelona on Saturday evening Clasico During the Ballon d’Or ceremony, posts on the club’s social networks were completely disabled without any confirmation of the ceremony.

Brazil international Vinicius Jr was long considered the favorite to win the Ballon d’Or after starring in the Champions League and La Liga last season, but the 24-year-old finished second overall.

Instead, Rodri became the first defensive midfielder to win the Ballon d’Or after the 28-year-old was named player of the tournament at this summer’s European Championship and helped Manchester City achieve promotion to the Premier League for the fourth time in a row.

Rodri, who has been sidelined for the rest of the season with an anterior cruciate ligament injury, follows Lionel Messi to become only the fifth player to win an individual award since 2007 – with most of those prizes being claimed by either Messi or Messi. Cristiano Ronaldo.

Real Madrid planned to travel to Paris for the ceremony until it became clear that Vinicius would not receive the top prize. This meant that although Real Madrid were named men’s club of the year after winning their 15th European Cup and 36th Spanish title, no one from the club will receive an award and the ceremony quickly continued.

Likewise, Kylian Mbappe was named joint winner of the Gerd Müller Trophy along with Harry Kane, but was not present when the England striker took to the stage for an interview and video montage.

Perhaps even more embarrassingly, Ballon d’Or host Didier Drogba clearly expected Carlo Ancelotti to be present to accept the coach of the year award, but the Italian coach also joined the boycott with his Real Madrid team.

The Ballon d’Or vote is determined by a panel of journalists from the world’s top 100 countries as ranked by FIFA, and Rodri was thrilled to receive the historic prize at the Théâtre du Châtelet. Rodri helped go on stage on crutches due to a knee injury.

“I have a lot to thank people for,” he said on stage. “First of all, France Football and UEFA for presenting me with this award. I would like to thank those who voted for me and placed their trust in me. Today is a special day for me, my family, my country.

“I would like to thank the most important person in the world to me, my girlfriend Laura. Today is our anniversary and nothing would be the same without her. Thank you.

“And my family, of course. The values ​​they taught me and everything they represent in me for teaching me to take the right steps and helping me become the person I am…

“I don’t want to forget my teammates, I understand it’s a group game. Manchester City is so special, I know I couldn’t have achieved this without you. For me this is the best club in the world and they make everything happen so much easier.

“The national team and Luis (de la Fuente, coach) for trusting me for so long, I have to mention my team-mates with whom we won the Euro. This concerns not only me, but also Spanish football.”

Another star player not present at the ceremony was Manchester City striker Erling Haaland, who instead traveled to Sweden to watch former club Malmö win the championship.

Haaland, who finished second in last season’s Ballon d’Or voting, traveled to Malmo ahead of the game against rivals IFK Gothenburg, where the victory sealed their second Allsvenskan title in a row and fourth in five years.