Manchester City fans watched Rodri crowned the best player in the world one week ago, as he was named the 2024 Ballon d’Or winner.
The Spanish maestro took home the ultimate individual prize in football, beating off competition from the likes of Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham.
Vinicius Junior was Manchester City star Rodri’s main rival for the award. But the Brazilian ended up coming in second.
Vinicius decided not to travel to the Ballon d’Or ceremony, having caught wind of the news that Rodri was to be named the winner.
Nobody from Real Madrid attended, in what was undoubtedly a very poor look for the Spanish giants.
Vinicius posted a classless message after losing out to Rodri – and now, Carlo Ancelotti has disappointingly gone down a similar route.
Carlo Ancelotti fails to acknowledge Rodri after Ballon d’Or win over Vinicius
Ancelotti has today been speaking ahead of Real Madrid’s Champions League clash with AC Milan.
The Italian was asked about last week’s Ballon d’Or ceremony, and it is clear that he feels his man should have won over Rodri.
He said (via MEN): “The Ballon d’Or has passed, we must congratulate the winners and nothing more.
“My Ballon d’Or winner was awarded on June 1 when we won the Champions League.”
Man City fans react
Ancelotti’s comments have not gone down particularly well with City fans, with many feeling that this was a chance for the Real Madrid manager to atone for last week.
Ancelotti has long been known for being a classy operator.
But over this situation, fans really feel he has missed the mark with his support for Vinicius and refusal to actually name Rodri and respect him properly.
Disappointing from Ancelotti
It is very understandable that a manager would want his own player to win the top individual prize in football.
But this response today from Ancelotti is really poor, and disappointing considering how he normally conducts himself.
It is not a bad thing to publicly congratulate a player from another team and acknowledge consistent brilliant.
The response from Ancelotti, combined with Real Madrid’s behaviour last week ahead of the ceremony, just makes them look entitled and extremely bitter.
The Italian had the chance today to fix their image a little, and it is truly a shame he chose not to take the opportunity.
