Photo by Florencia Tan Jun/Getty Images
The Ballon d’Or ceremony at Theatre du Chatelet last night saw Rodri win the prestigious individual award over Vinicius Jr.
News of the Spaniard’s win broke in the nth minute and did not go down well at the club, who after their exploits last season, had the lion’s share of the nominees.
The entire Real Madrid delegation eventually did not turn up in Paris for the much-awaited event including Carlo Ancelotti who was named the Best Mens coach for last season.
Ancelotti’s message
While Ancelotti did not attend the ceremony in line with Real Madrid’s stance, he did take to his social media to acknowledge the accolade that had been bestowed on him.
“I want to thank my family, my president, my club, my players and above all Vini and Carvajal,” he wrote.
The Italian coach’s message sends out a double message as is clear. For starters, he made the classy move of thanking all parties involved in his success for making it possible for him.
Simultaneously, however, his special words for Carvajal and Vinicius send a strong message as there is a feeling in Madrid that both players were robbed of the title on the night.
As the two goal scorers in the UCL final, they had a special role in ensuring that Real Madrid won the UEFA Champions League and that Ancelotti could take home the title he won last night.
It remains to be seen what effect the recent ceremony has on the dressing room and on Vinicius in particular who was very sure that he had won the award. Needless to say, it is heartbreaking for the Brazilian and he must look to bounce back strong.
