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Vinicius Junior top scored for Madrid as they completed a rare La Liga and Champions League double, while Rodri was instrumental as the ‘number six’ in Manchester City’s Premier League triumph and Spain’s victory at Euro 2024.
Opinion has been split ever since the Spaniard was awarded the Ballon d’Or ahead of the Brazilian.
“Last year, when Real Madrid were European champions, Vinicius was decisive in every game. So I don’t think there is anyone else who deserves it more than Vinicius,” Benzema, a Ballon d’Or winner himself in 2022, told Spanish broadcaster El Chiringuito.
“I have nothing against Rodri, he’s a good player, but I’m sitting on my couch watching TV and Rodri doesn’t do anything that makes you say ‘wow’. Vinicius has done it to me more than once, so it’s a bit of a shame because he deserved the Ballon d’Or.
“I hope [Vinicius] is mentally strong. I was talking to Vinicius and he is strong enough to work and one day he will have [a Ballon d’Or]. I wrote him a message and he was sad. It’s normal. It’s a bit complicated when everyone sees you winning the Ballon d’Or and, in the end, they tell you that you’re not going to win it. It’s very complicated.
“Vinicius is a good kid, he is going to work and one day he will win the Ballon d’Or.”
Controversy reigned when it was reported a few hours before the Ballon d’Or ceremony on Monday that Vinicius suddenly wasn’t expected to win and Real Madrid would boycott the evening as a result – no one from the club attended in a move widely perceived as entitled and petty.
The Spanish giants briefed national media that they felt disrespected as a club, suggesting that if Vinicius wasn’t going to win the Ballon d’Or it should have been Dani Carvajal, …
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