Rodri snubs Vinicius Junior for teammate in the personal Ballon d’Or rankings

Two weeks after winning football’s most prestigious award, Rodri shared which players would have received his votes for the 2024 Ballon d’Or.

In a somewhat controversial decision, Rodri defeated Vinícius Júnior to become That of Manchester City First Ballon d’Or winner in history. The midfielder received 41 more votes than the Real Madrid winger, making him only the third player since 2008 to take home the award not named Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi.

As Rodri continues to recover from a season-ending ACL injury, the 28-year-old spoke to COPE radio about his Ballon d’Or win and announced his personal finalists for this year’s award.

“I think it’s great that people vote on what they feel. It’s someone’s opinion,” Rodri said. “I respect Vinícius a lot, and Real Madrid, and everyone who knows me knows it. I would vote for Carvajal, and so would Vinícius. Maybe Carvajal will come second.”

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Rodri backing Dani Carvajal over Vinícius Júnior is no surprise; the two Spaniards won Euro 2024 together. Carvajal, who is also out for the season due to a cruciate ligament injury, played 470 minutes of Spain’s successful European campaign after his victory La Ligathe Champions League and Spanish Super Cup with Real Madrid. Carvajal finished fourth in the official Ballon d’Or rankings 2024.

Rodri did leave Jude Bellingham, who finished third in the official rankings, out of his top three. The England international won the same trophies as Vinícius Júnior and Carvajal, but fell short to England in the Euro 2024 final.

The City superstar put his Ballon d’Or win down to more than just his trophies. “I believe I was the most consistent player of the season,” Rodri said.

In his 2023-2024 season, Rodri made 63 appearances for both club and country, recording 12 goals and 15 assists along the way. He created 114 chances for his teammates at both City and Spain.

City also went 27-7-0 with the 28-year-old in the middle of the park and 1-0-3 without. Spain, meanwhile, recorded victories in all seven matches at Euro 2024.

Perhaps the most telling argument for Rodri’s victory is how poorly the defending English champions have performed in his absence this season. City went into the November international break on the back of four straight defeats, falling to Tottenham Hotspur, BournemouthSporty CP and Brighton & Hove Albion.

Without their most consistent player, City have a mountain to climb if they want to secure a fifth straight win Premier League title.

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