On Sunday, lower than 24 hours after the heavy 4-0 Clasico defeat to Barcelona on the Bernabeu, Real Madrid experienced one other shocking turn of events.
The order got here from the best circles of the club to cancel the trip to Paris planned for Monday, where everyone expected, amongst other things, that Vinicius Junior would win the Ballon d'Or.
Real Madrid were told that this is able to not be the case and that the winner wouldn’t be Dani Carvajal either. The defender, who won the European Championship with Spain last summer, was Los Blancos' other big candidate.
In the club's offices they argued that if Vinicius Jr. didn’t win and so they hoped for the European Championship, Carvajal would must be ahead of the others, including one other Madrid player, the Englishman Jude Bellingham.
But neither Vinicius Jr. nor Carvajal were capable of lift the trophy ultimately, sparking outrage and anger in Madrid. As a result, nobody from the club was present on the event to see Rodri, one other Spanish European Championship winner but a star for Premier League champions Manchester City, being crowned the world's best footballer for 2023-24.
A terrible 48 hours pass here for Vinicius Jr. and Madrid.
Nobody at Real Madrid expected this end result.
More than in previous years, great efforts were made to take care of secrecy and forestall the identity of the winners from being revealed. Interviews and photo shoots that used to happen before the ceremony have been postponed until after.
While some reports in Spain suggested that Vinicius Jr. can be named the winner for the primary time, it was reported on Monday that neither Real Madrid, Vinicius Jr. nor a lot of the staff at France Football (the publication that created the award called) knew the winner.
Previously, people in Madrid had full confidence that Vinicius Jr. would lift the trophy.
“I think he will win the Ballon d'Or because of his performance last year, which helped us win the Champions League, and not because of the three goals today,” Carlo Ancelotti said on Tuesday after the 24-year-old's award Hat trick inspired his team to a comeback victory over Borussia Dortmund.
That hope was partly a consolation, a painkiller for Saturday's home defeat to Barcelona, a result that gave Hansi Flick's side six points clear at the highest of La Liga.
However, on Sunday morning, Vinicius Jr. was informed that he wouldn’t win the Ballon d'Or. It was a shock for him and everybody around him, even when within the weeks leading as much as it they all the time claimed they didn't know what was going to occur.
The player and his employees had prepared extensively for the trip with around 30 travel companions, including people from his agency, family and friends. Some of his guests had come from Brazil specifically for this purpose. An afterparty was also planned for Monday's event.
Several sources, who, like others in this text, wished to stay anonymous to guard relationships, reported that Nike, Vinicius Jr.'s essential sports sponsor, had prepared special soccer cleats to have a good time an eventual victory. In addition, they’d organized an event in Madrid that was to be attended by the footballer, people near him and influencers. Nike has been contacted for comment.
Vinicius Jr. celebrates after scoring his team's second goal in last season's Champions League final (Ina Fassbender/AFP via Getty Images)
For hours on Sunday there have been moments of tension and long waits for a choice on what to do. Ultimately, the Real Madrid board decided that there can be no trip to Paris. All parties agreed that this was one of the best approach after imagining the photographs of disappointment in Paris, where they might have gone within the hope that Vinicius Jr. would emerge victorious. Furthermore, France Football's lack of communication, be it with the club or with the player, had upset Madrid.
As Sunday afternoon become evening, the club informed many more people, including Ancelotti, that they might not be traveling, although a delegation of around 50 people had been scheduled to achieve this. This order got here from above.
In a really difficult time, it was a consolation for Vinicius Jr. that your complete club agreed to not travel. As soon because the news reached his teammates, they sent him quite a few messages of encouragement, as they did publicly after the gala.
Eduardo Camavinga was clearest: “FOOTBALL POLITICS. My brother, you are the best player in the world and no award can say otherwise. I love you, my brother,” the player wrote on X.
At one point it was expected that Emilio Butragueno, director of institutional relations, would travel, but this too was finally ruled out on Monday. That meant Real Madrid had nobody readily available to simply accept the Men's Club of the Year award and nobody to simply accept Ancelotti's Men's Coach of the Year award.
“It is not good for football that a club as important as Madrid and with so many fans around the world is not present at such a gala,” Spain coach Luis de la Fuente told Movistar.
“I was surprised, yes, because I had spoken to someone from Real Madrid who said they would come here at 1:30 p.m. and suddenly I'm at the hotel and I'm surprised by the news,” said Luis Figo, Los The Los Blancos legend and Ballon d'Or winner said Movistar.
For those more attentive, there was a touch on Monday morning: Surprisingly, Real Madrid TV can be showing a movie similtaneously the Ballon d'Or gala. There can also be no mention of the awards received on the club's website or social media.
Shortly before 3 p.m., Real Madrid privately reported that the growing rumors were true.
“If the award criteria do not declare Vinicius Jr. the winner, the same criteria should declare Carvajal the winner,” said a club source. “As this was not the case, it is obvious that the UEFA Ballon d'Or does not respect Real Madrid. And Real Madrid is not where it is not respected.”
Minutes later, people from Vinicius Jr.'s agency confirmed that they were in Madrid after being informed by the club and that they might not be traveling to Paris.
Club sources said they discovered because Manchester City knew Rodri can be the winner, although sources near the matter assure that the knowledge didn’t come from the English club.
Real Madrid were quick to indicate that the name of the award is Ballon d'Or-UEFA, as European football's governing body is involved in organizing the event. The club and UEFA have been at loggerheads since Madrid's participation in a planned European Super League.
“I think there are issues between Real Madrid and UEFA that have affected the results on a number of things,” former Madrid midfielder Clarence Seedorf told TNT Sports on the red carpet in Paris. “Vinicius Junior is the one who definitely deserves the award. It’s a shame.”
What is noteworthy is that the award is set on the idea of a vote of 100 journalists.
During the afternoon, the law of silence was introduced in Vinicius Jr.'s camp. Members of the team were asked not to talk to the press for a time frame.
But at 6:30 p.m., a friend of Vinicius Jr. made the primary public response.
“But this award, which does not go into your hands, only shows the mentality of those who are afraid of our presence,” wrote singer MC Maneirinho, receiving likes from other friends and agency members. Something else was highlighted by Valdebebas: the audience on the event chanted Vinicius Jr.'s name within the seconds before Rodri's name was announced because the winner.
The day left Real Madrid and Vinicius Jr. with one query particularly: What else does he must do to win the Ballon d'Or?
Winning the Champions League (involved in 11 goals in 10 games, including one in the ultimate), La Liga (involved in 21 goals in 26 games, a median of 1 every 89 minutes) and the Spanish Super Cup (hat-trick in the ultimate). against Barcelona) wasn't enough. So what would occur?
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