Erling Haaland decided not to attend Monday night’s Ballon d’Or ceremony and instead opted to watch some Swedish football.
The Manchester City star was one of 30 nominees for the prestigious award following another breathtaking season, but came fifth in the rankings and behind triumphant teammate Rodri.
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Haaland scored 38 goals in 45 matches for City in the 2023/24 campaign, during which he won his second Premier League title.
He came second in last year’s Ballon d’Or rankings behind the record eight-time winner and footballing legend Lionel Messi.
The Norwegian was in attendance for the ceremony and also won the Gerd Muller trophy for being the highest scorer of the season.
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However, Haaland did not travel to Paris for this year’s festivities as he was spotted at a Swedish football match instead.
Taking to his Instagram story, the 24-year-old uploaded images of him in the stands at Malmo’s Eleda Stadion.
Haaland watched Malmo defeat IFK Goteborg 2-1 on the night to ensure they were crowned champions of the Allsvenskan, the Swedish top flight.
It’s the club’s 24th league title in Sweden, and one of football’s best players was in attendance to watch them secure victory.
Haaland was donning a Malmo shirt with Erik Botheim’s name on the back, with the forward a friend of his from their Norway youth days.
It proved to be a joyous evening for Malmo and their fans whilst footballing greatness was celebrated over in Paris.
Lamine Yamal was the first winner of the evening as he was crowned the 2024 Kopa Trophy winner.
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The Barcelona youngster enjoyed an excellent breakthrough season and was key to Spain’s success at Euro 2024 in the summer.
Barcelona were named as the Women’s Club of the Year, whilst Real Madrid took the title of Men’s Club of the Year.
Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe were named as the joint-winners of the Gerd Muller trophy for their 52 goals scored in 2023/24 for Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain respectively.
However, Mbappe was not present to collect the award due to Real Madrid’s Ballon d’Or boycott amid Vinicius Jr potentially not winning the main award.
Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez was also named as the Yashin Trophy winner for a second year in a row.
