Rodri wins men’s Ballon d’Or; Real Madrid boycott award function after Vinicius Junior finish second

GUWAHATI, Oct 29: Manchester City and Spain midfielder Rodri became the first defensive midfielder after Lothar Matthaus to win the men’s Ballon d’Or award after he pipped Real Madrid’s Liga and Champions League double winner Vinicius Junior, who was widely seen as the favourite, to be crowned winner.

Rodri, who helped Manchester City win a fourth consecutive Premier League title and won the Euro 2024 with Spain, is seen as the best defensive midfielder and becomes the first Premier League player after Christiano Ronaldo in 2008 to win the coveted award.

Real Madrid boycotted the ceremony, announcing that its delegation would not attend the ceremony at Chatelet Theatre because of what it perceived as a snub of Vinicius.

Vinicius finished second on voting, ahead of teammate Jude Bellingham (third), while Carvajal took the fourth spot. Other Real Madrid players on the final list included Kylian Mbappé (sixth), Toni Kroos (ninth), Federico Valverde (17th) and Antonio Rüdiger (22nd).

“If the award criteria doesn’t give it to Vinicius as the winner, then those same criteria should point to Carvajal as the winner,” Real Madrid told AFP.

Meanwhile, Barcelona and Spain star Aitana Bonmati earlier won her second successive women’s Ballon d’Or, after leading her club to a historic continental quadruple of titles and claiming the Nations League with her country.