The fall of Vinicius Junior who finished in second place in the Ballon d'Or voting, and his absence after the gala in Paris where the award was given, have dominated the headlines this week. Stories continue to emerge from the capital about how Monday's events played out.
Ace for ReliefReal Madrid's decision not to travel was made as a show of support for their Brazilian star, who wanted to put no conspiratorial reasoning behind him not receiving the award. They say Los Blancos want Vinicius to feel fully supported by the club, going to bat for him even more than they did for Cristiano Ronaldo during his time here. The Portuguese became frustrated at times that he did not receive the support he felt he deserved for the individual awards.
Viggo Mortensen wrote a letter to El Pais about the #BallonDor: :
“The call was made to support Vinicius and his whim.”
“It's being a bad loser, period. I'm a fan of Real Madrid, but if the club doesn't go where it's not respected, it's their fault for this kind of stupidity.” pic.twitter.com/MrYxUeiIbo
— Football España (@footballespana_) October 30, 2024
That all the controls in conjunction with a separate report from Chain SER. They say Vinicius has felt a bit hurt by the focus on Kylian Mbappe in recent months at the club, and believes they could do more in their campaign to win the Ballon d'Or.
Los Blancos feared that after not winning, his frustration may have grown with the club, and he could have approached a get out of linea story that continues to persist. As such, the overreaction to Vinicius losing to Rodri Hernandez can be explained by wanting to go the extra mile to support him.
It certainly illustrates the tricky job that Real Madrid and Carlo Ancelotti have on hand to balance the egos of a star-studded squad. While Vinicius was perhaps the favorite for the award, the Blancos could easily have won, for Dani Carvajal or Jude Bellingham, who finished just behind him. Likewise, until his exit from Euro 2024, Toni Kroos was considered by many as their strongest candidate.
