Spain manager Luis de la Fuente has been much more outspoken in recent weeks, and this week was no exception, as he even dared to criticise Real Madrid. De la Fuente was in the running for coach of the year, but saw himself surpassed by Pep Guardiola, Xabi Alonso and eventual winner Carlo Ancelotti.
De la Fuente appeared on the red carpet, and was all smiles ahead of one of his leaders picking up the main award. Manchester City star Rodri Hernandez picked up the award, building on his tournament MVP at Euro 2024. It was upon finding out that Vinicius Junior would not be winning the Ballon d’Or that Real Madrid decided against going.
“It is not good for football that an entity as important as Real Madrid and with so many followers worldwide is not present at a gala of these characteristics,” he told Movistar+, as quoted by MD.
“I’m very sorry, everyone makes the decisions they have to make and they are all respectable, but I would have liked all of world football and all of Spanish football to be represented. We are responsible for leaving it in the best possible place.”
Los Blancos have been widely criticised for pulling out of the gala, and while it is not a major issue either way, the fact that they were due to go and then decided not to because they were not winning was strange one from an optics point of view. Had they been avoiding the gala from the off, it might have caused less of an impact in the media.
Image via AP Photo/Michel Euler
