- The Real Madrid men’s first team posed for an official photo at the Bernabeu
- It comes hours after star winger Vinicius Jr was snubbed for the 2024 Ballon d’Or
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Vinicius Junior has shared a full squad photo with his Real Madrid team-mates and management after being being snubbed for the 2024 Ballon d’Or.
Whether it was an act of defiance or a show of unity, the Madrid winger and friends are all smiles as they pose for an official photo at their home ground, the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, which ‘Vini Jr’ posted to his Instagram page.
The Brazilian winger had been hotly tipped to win the most prestigious individual prize in world football, but he ended up finishing second on the night in the voting, to Manchester City’s midfield maestro, Rodri.
Early ‘leaked’ news of the result forced Vinicius Jr and his Madrid colleagues to sensationally boycott the glitzy awards ceremony just hours before it started in Paris, on Monday evening.
Vinicius Jr believes his public fight against racism cost him the Ballon d’Or, a report has claimed, and was a motivating factor as to why players and coaches decided to boycott the ceremony after learning their winger would not be taking home the top honour.
Vinicius Jr shared a snap of his Real Madrid team-mates on social media after Ballon d’Or snub
One such instance occurred when Madrid played Valencia, which resulted in three men being handed prison sentences (player pictured discussing the incident in a Brazil press conference)
The 24-year-old took to social media after he was confirmed as the runner-up, writing on X: ‘I will do it 10 times if I have to. They’re not ready.’
According to Reuters, this comment was a reference to his fight against racism in recent years.
However, Vincent Garcia, the editor-in-chief of France Football – the magazine behind the award – contests this claim, countering it was in fact the prowess of his own team-mates that meant further points were potentially siphoned away from him.
‘Obviously, Vinicius surely suffered from the presence of Bellingham and Carvajal in the top fives because, mathematically, that took away some points from him,’ Garcia explained.
‘This also sums up Real Madrid’s season, which took between three and four players and the judges shared their decisions between them, which benefited Rodri.
He added: ‘I had a lot of pressure from Real Madrid but, as with other clubs, I was always clear, fair and perhaps my silence pushed them to the limit.
‘But it was the same as with the others. I was very unpleasantly surprised by his absence.’
On any other evening it would have been considered nothing short of a massive success for the Spanish side.
Manchester City and Spain star Rodri took home the prestigious prize after a stunning season with Manchester City
Rodri was sat beside Man City team-mate Ruben Dias as he celebrated the award on Monday
Real Madrid picked up awards for the best team of the year, as well as men’s manager of the year for Carlo Ancelotti.
Rodri – now out for the season with a double knee injury – became the first Premier League player to win the award since Cristiano Ronaldo in 2008.
The Spanish midfielder helped City to a fourth straight league title this year and was an integral member of Spain’s European Championship winning side. Rodri has lost only one club game in 18 months.
Shortly after the 28-year-old won the award, a video appeared on social media showing him wildly celebrating his achievement with friends in a restaurant.
