Vinicius Junior is not set to travel to the Ballon d'Or awards. No Real Madrid player will win the award this year, confirms Fabrizio Romano.
Real Madrid has had an awful end to October. The disappointing El Clasico result has left a sour taste in the mouths of Real Madrid fans and indeed the players.
Vinicius Junior confirmed that, despite losing 4-0 at home to arch rivals Barcelona, Real Madrid will bounce back. They are the biggest club in the world after all, so it is expected that Los Blancos will come back stronger.
However, Vinicius Junior has been hit with some difficult-to-swallow news personally. It is now believed that he Brazil international has not won the 2024 Ballon d'Or award.
Vinicius Junior has not won the Ballon d'Or, confirms Fabrizio Romano
According to Fabrizio Romano, Vinicius Junior will not travel to Paris for the 2024 Ballon d'Or ceremony. It is believed that no Real Madrid representative will travel to the awards, as they are aware that Vinicius Junior has missed out.
🚨 BREAKING: Vinicius Jr will NOT travel to Paris as Real Madrid know he will NOT win the Ballon d’Or.
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) October 28, 2024
No one from Real Madrid will attend the ceremony. No Florentino Pérez, no Vini Jr, no Carlo Ancelotti, no Jude Bellingham. pic.twitter.com/qN9PaYjmR0
Since no Real Madrid player is believed to win the Ballon d'Or this year, the consensus is that Rodri of Manchester City has won the award. Rodri won the Premier League and EURO 2024. This, assumingly, has trumped Vini's achievement of winning the UEFA Champions League and La Liga.
It is understandable, then, that Real Madrid do not wish to turn up to Paris for the awards ceremony. Not only have they been hard-done-by, but it wouldn't be a good look to show up to a flashy premiere less than 48 hours after being humiliated in El Clasico.
It is fair to say that Vini Jr missing out on the Ballon d'Or is contentious. It was believed by many, even neutral fans, that Vinicius Junior was destined to win the golden ball. He has been the best player in the world and the reason why Real Madrid dominated, after all.
In many ways, this shows that the Ballon d'Or is not entirely unbiased. It is easy to say that Vini Jr deserved the award on a Real Madrid fan website, but this opinion is echoed by many football fans across the world.
Thankfully, Real Madrid has established such a name for themselves over the years, that individual awards are nothing more than trivial niceties. Vini Jr only has to look at his honours won with Real Madrid to be proud.