Real Madrid fans have voiced their anger after seeing Vinicius Junior miss out on the Ballon d'Or to Manchester City midfielder Rodri.
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Vinicius beaten to Ballon d'Or awardFans reacted angrily to Rodri winReal Madrid boycotted the ceremonyFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?
Vinicius was widely regarded as the favourite to win the award given to the best player in the world over the course of last season after his starring role for Madrid as they won the Champions League crown and La Liga title. However, the Brazilian attacker ended up finishing second in the rankings, as Rodri, who won the Premier League with City and Euro 2024 with Spain, took home the honour, much to the outrage of many, including one of Vinicius' fellow Madrid stars.
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Meanwhile, Madrid fans also took to social media to express their outrage, with one posting on X: "Rodri winning this Ballon d’Or is the biggest robbery in football history. He wasn’t the best Prem player. He wasn’t the best UCL player. He wasn’t even the best Euro player. Vini has been completely ROBBED."
Another user wrote: "Nothing to take away from Rodri, but Vinicius is the real winner and the entire world knows that!"
"It's very clear who is the winner," said @goatsf1. "They robbed Vinicius. It's the biggest scandal ever in football. What a shame and disgrace."
Another fan, @kishin_mahtani, wrote: "Disgraceful decision, but this is an award ceremony that has become a joke. Vinicius all the way for me personally. He has been robbed."
According to @kennypiz, it is "the biggest robbery in broad daylight. Absolutely disgusting. Vinicius 1000% deserved that award."
"It's in these idiotic awards that we realise that the world is a great injustice," wrote a furious @alohajessi1. "Vini Jr is THE BEST and nothing more."
WHAT THE PLAYERS ARE SAYING
AC Milan and Portugal star Rafael Leao also joined the outrage. He shared one of Vinicius' posts and added an emoji covering its eyes to express his shock.
Instagram/iamrafaeleao93THE BIGGER PICTURE
The news that Vinicius would not be crowned Ballon d'Or winner sparked a furious reaction within the club. The likes of Jude Bellingham, Dani Carvajal, Kylian Mbappe, Toni Kroos, Federico Valverde and Antonio Rudiger were all nominated for the prize, too, while Carlo Ancelotti was up for, and won, the award best men's coach. However, none of those were in attendance as the entire club boycotted the ceremony after the news of Rodri's win was leaked hours before the ceremony.