The fallout from Vinicius Junior finishing in second place in the Ballon d’Or vote, and his subsequent absence from the gala in Paris where the award was given out, have dominated the headlines this week. Stories continue to emerge from the capital about how the events of Monday have played out.
As per Relevo, Real Madrid’s decision not to travel was made as a show of support for their star Brazilian, who were keen to put out no shortage of conspiratorial reasoning for why he did not receive the award. They say that Los Blancos want Vinicius to feel completely backed by the club, going out to bat for him even more than they did for Cristiano Ronaldo during his time there. The Portuguese grew frustrated at times that he did not receive the backing he felt he deserved for individual awards.
Viggo Mortensen has penned a letter to El Pais on the #BallonDor:
"The call was made to support Vinicius and his tantrum."
"It's being a bad loser, period. I'm a Real Madrid fan, but if the club doesn't go where it isn't respected, it's their fault for this sort of stupidity." pic.twitter.com/MrYxUeiIbo
— Football España (@footballespana_) October 30, 2024
That all checks out in conjunction with a separate report from Cadena SER. They say that Vinicius has felt somewhat hurt by the focus on Kylian Mbappe in recent months from the club, and believes that they could have done more in their campaign effort to get him the Ballon d’Or.
Los Blancos feared that after not winning it, his frustration may have grown with the club, and it could have brought him closer to an exit down the line, a story that continues to persist. As such, the overreaction to Vinicius losing out to Rodri Hernandez can be explained, wanting to go the extra mile to back him.
Certainly it illustrates the tricky job that Real Madrid and Carlo Ancelotti have on their hands to balance the egos of a star-studded squad. While perhaps Vinicius was the favourite for the award, Los Blancos could easily have campaigned, for Dani Carvajal or Jude Bellingham, who finished just behind him. Equally, until his exit from Euro 2024, Toni Kroos was considered by many as their strongest candidate.
