On Sunday, not even 24 hours after the heavy blow of losing El Clasico 4-0 to Barcelona at the Bernabeu, there was another seismic shift at Real Madrid.
From the highest levels of the club came the order to cancel Monday’s planned trip to Paris, where everyone was expecting, among other prizes, Vinicius Junior to win the Ballon d’Or.
Real Madrid were told that would not be the case, and that the winner would not be Dani Carvajal either. The defender, who won last summer’s Euros with Spain was Los Blancos’ other major candidate.
At the club’s offices, they argued that if Vinicius Jr did not win and they looked to the European Championship, Carvajal would have to be ahead of the rest, including another Madrid player, England’s Jude Bellingham.
But neither Vinicius Jr nor Carvajal would ultimately lift the trophy, prompting indignation and anger in Madrid. As a result, no one from the club was present at the event to see Rodri, another of Spain’s Euros winners but a star for Premier League champions Manchester City, crowned the world’s best footballer for 2023-24.
Here, The Athletic takes you inside a horrible 48 hours for Vinicius Jr and Madrid.
No one at Real Madrid expected this outcome.
More than in previous years, much effort was made to maintain secrecy and to avoid the identities of the award winners from leaking. Interviews and photoshoots that used to take place before the ceremony were delayed until afterwards.
While some reports in Spain indicated Vinicius Jr would be named the winner for the first time, The Athletic reported on Monday that neither Real Madrid, Vinicius Jr nor most of those who work at France Football (the publication which created the award) knew the winner.
Previously, there had been complete confidence in Madrid that Vinicius Jr would lift the trophy.
“I think he’s going to win the Ballon d’Or because of what he has done last year, which helped us win the Champions League, not because of the three goals today,” Carlo Ancelotti said on Tuesday after the 24-year-old’s hat-trick inspired his team to a comeback victory over Borussia Dortmund.
That hope was partly a consolation, a painkiller for the home drubbing by Barcelona on Saturday, a result which took Hansi Flick’s side six points clear at the top of La Liga.
On Sunday morning, however, Vinicius Jr was informed he would not win the Ballon d’Or. It was a shock for him and all those around him, even though in the weeks leading up to it they always maintained they did not know what would happen.
The player and his staff had prepared in detail for the trip, with around 30 companions due to travel, including people from his agency, family and friends. Some of his guests had travelled from Brazil expressly for this purpose. An after-party was also planned for the event on Monday.
Multiple sources who, like others in this article, wished to remain anonymous to protect relationships, have told The Athletic that Nike, Vinicius Jr’s main sporting sponsor, had prepared special boots to celebrate an eventual victory. In addition, they had organised an event in Madrid which the footballer, people close to him and influencers were due to attend. Nike has been contacted for comment.
Vinicius Jr celebrates after scoring his team’s second goal in last season’s Champions League final (Ina Fassbender/AFP via Getty Images)
For hours on Sunday, there were moments of tension and a long wait for a decision on what to do. Finally, the Real Madrid board decided that there would be no trip to Paris. All parties agreed it was the best approach after envisaging the images of disappointment in Paris, where they would have gone with every hope that Vinicius Jr would be the winner. In addition, the lack of communication from France Football, either with the club or with the player, had annoyed Madrid.
As Sunday afternoon turned to evening, many more people, including Ancelotti, were informed by the club that they would not be travelling, despite the fact a delegation of around 50 people was scheduled to do so. That order came from the top.
At a very difficult time, Vinicius Jr was comforted by the fact that the whole club was in agreement about not travelling. As soon as the news reached his team-mates, they sent him numerous messages of encouragement, as they would do publicly after the gala.
The clearest came from Eduardo Camavinga: “FOOTBALL POLITICS. My brother you are the best player in the world and no award can say otherwise. Love you my bro,” the player wrote on X.
At one point it was envisaged that Emilio Butragueno, director of institutional relations, would travel, but this was finally ruled out on Monday as well. It meant Real Madrid had no one there to collect their award for men’s club of the year, and no one to accept when Ancelotti was named men’s coach of the year.
“It is not good for football that a club as important as Madrid and with so many fans worldwide is not present at such a gala,” Spain coach Luis de la Fuente told Movistar.
“I was surprised, yes, because I had spoken to someone from Real Madrid who said they were going to come here at 13:30 and suddenly I’m in the hotel and I’m surprised by the news,” Luis Figo, Los Blancos legend and a Ballon d’Or winner, told Movistar.
There was a clue on Monday morning for the more attentive ones: surprisingly, Real Madrid TV would be showing a film at the same time as the Ballon d’Or gala. The club’s website and social media would also make no mention of any of the awards received.
Shortly before 3pm, Real Madrid privately reported that the growing rumours were true.
“If the award criteria do not proclaim Vinicius Jr the winner, those same criteria should proclaim Carvajal the winner,” a club source told The Athletic. “As this has not been the case, it is obvious that the UEFA Ballon d’Or does not respect Real Madrid. And Real Madrid is not where it is not respected.”
Minutes later, people from Vinicius Jr’s agency confirmed to The Athletic that they were in Madrid after being informed by the club and that they would not be travelling to Paris.
Club sources explained they had found out because Manchester City knew Rodri would be the winner, although sources briefed on the process assure The Athletic that the information did not come from the English club.
Real Madrid were quick to point out that the name of the award is “Ballon d’Or-UEFA”, given European football’s governing body is involved in the organistion of the event. The club and UEFA have been at odds since Madrid’s involvement in a proposed European Super League.
“I think there are problems between Real Madrid and UEFA, which affected some things in the results,” former Madrid midfielder Clarence Seedorf told TNT Sports on the red carpet in Paris. “Vinicius Junior is the one who definitely deserves the award. It is a shame.“
It is worth noting that the award is decided on the basis of a vote by 100 journalists.
As the afternoon wore on, the law of silence was established at Vinicius Jr’s camp. Members of the team were asked not to speak to the press for a while.
However, at 6.30pm, a friend of Vinicius Jr’s gave the first public reaction.
“But this award not going into your hands only shows the mentality of those who are afraid of our presence,” wrote singer MC Maneirinho, receiving likes from other friends and agency members. From Valdebebas, something else was also highlighted: the audience at the event shouted Vinicius Jr’s name in the seconds before Rodri’s name was called out as the winner.
The day left Real Madrid and Vinicius Jr with one main question: what else does he have to do to lift the Ballon d’Or?
Winning the Champions League (involved in 11 goals in 10 games, including one in the final), La Liga (involved in 21 goals in 26 games, one every 89 minutes on average) and the Spanish Super Cup (hat-trick in the final against Barcelona) was not enough. So what would be?
(Top photo: Getty Images; design: John Bradford)