Neymar makes declaration about Real Madrid superstar

Real Madrid fans were delighted with the fact that Karim Benzema lifted the Ballon d’Or, the most prestigious individual award in football. The Frenchman thoroughly deserved it, after delivering an all-time great season in the Royal White jersey, guiding the club to the La Liga and the Champions League.

Another player who was instrumental in those triumphs was Vinicius Jr, as he transformed from highly rated talent to bona fide superstar. According to stats from Transfermarkt, the Brazilian star scored 22 goals and provided 20 assists in 52 appearances last season.

On top of that, he scored the Champions League-winning goal vs Liverpool as well. But all of that did not manage to impress the Ballon d’Or voters enough, as he ended up finishing at 8th in the rankings.

It was thought that he would be on the podium this year or at least in the top 5, after the season that he had. But it was not to be. And one man who did not seem to be particularly impressed is Vini’s Brazilian national teammate, Neymar.

Neymar makes Vinicius declaration after the Real Madrid superstar finished 8th in the Ballon d’Or rankings

Neymar pointed out on Twitter that Vinicius should have been in the top 3 at least:

Of course, one of the things that might not have helped Vini’s case on this occasion is the fact that he had a teammate who was bound to finish ahead of him in Benzema.

Thus, players from other clubs ended up getting a lot of votes ahead of him, as many viewed the Frenchman as the main reason for Real Madrid’s Champions League victory last season.

Another thing to consider was how many Real Madrid players ended up finishing in the top 10. Other than Benzema and Vini, Thibaut Courtois (7th) and Luka Modric (9th) also made the cut.

At the end of the day, even then, Vini should have finished in a much better position than 8th after the incredible campaign that he had and the fact that this was his breakout season did not help his case either. He is not an established superstar like the players who finished ahead of him.