Rodri managed to defeat both Vinicius Jr and Jude Bellingham to become the third player in Premier League history to win the Ballon d’Or on Monday.
Rodri won the Ballon d’Or after a fairytale year for him in a Manchester City as well as a Spain shirt as he won the Premier League and Euro 2024 while arguably being the best player for both sides.
Rodri described his Ballon d’Or triumph as “special” and revealed the hard work he has put in behind the scenes to be officially recognised as the best player in the world.
Manchester City fans were delighted about Rodri’s Ballon d’Or win as he has earned a special place in the club’s history by becoming the only player ever to win the award.
Vinicius decided not to attend the Ballon d’Or ceremony as well as Real Madrid’s representatives such as Jude Bellingham and Dani Carvajal as well — who finished third and fourth respectively.
Real Madrid fans reacted to Rodri’s Ballon d’Or win over Vinicius by expressing their anger at their in-form winger finishing as the runner-up when rumours started to circulate that this was the case.
- READ MORE: Who is Rodri? Get to know Man City’s modest midfield maestro who won a Champions League final
Vinicius Jr vows to work ’10x’ harder after Rodri wins Ballon d’Or
The Brazilian international had a calendar year to remember as well.
However, Thierry Henry claimed Rodri outperformed Vinicius internationally with Spain winning the European Championship while Brazil were knocked out of the last-eight by Uruguay at the Copa America.
Vinicius has now reacted to finishing in second place behind Rodri on X, writing: “I’ll do it 10x if I have to. They’re not ready.”
Don Hutchison accused Real Madrid’s players of not being graceful in their two-time Champions League winner’s defeat.
“Real Madrid players and club tonight. A total lack of respect by Real Madrid to the winner Rodri and everyone else who won prizes tonight in my opinion.”
Vinicius did not seem overly pleased by Rodri’s historic win as he did not congratulate him.
Instead, the former Santos forward merely seems incensed by the decision.
Ilkay Gundogan reacts to Rodri winning the Ballon d’Or
However, neither does the Spaniard nor do his teammates at Manchester City seem bothered.
Instead, Ilkay Gundogan took to X to pay ode to his teammate for winning the Ballon d’Or.
Gundogan wrote: “From today on, he is finally not ‘underrated’ anymore.”
“Congratulations to my teammate Rodri on wining the Ballon d’Or! For me, this is very well deserved! I’m especially happy that someone on a defensive position is winning this title and not always just the offensive players!”
“Rodri is the perfect midfielder and there’s no one that plays his position better than he does, there are so many clubs in Europe that are looking for a world-class holding midfielder but in the end, there’s only him! What a development in recent years!”
Previously, Gundogan has claimed Rodri is “irreplaceable” for Manchester City as well.
The German’s praise towards Rodri shows how respected he is at the Etihad Stadium.
As a result, the midfield maestro has no reason to be too concerned about Vinicius’ reaction online.
