![\"Vinicius](\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/athletic\/uploads\/wp\/2024\/10\/28170744\/1028_ViniJrSnub.png?width=1920&quality=70&format=auto\")
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On Sunday, not even 24 hours after the heavy blow of losing El Clasico 4-0 to\u00a0Barcelona\u00a0at the Bernabeu, there was another seismic shift at\u00a0Real Madrid.<\/p>\n
From the highest levels of the club came the order to cancel Monday\u2019s planned trip to Paris, where everyone was expecting, among other prizes,\u00a0Vinicius Junior\u00a0to win the Ballon d\u2019Or.<\/p>\n
Real Madrid were told that would not be the case, and that the winner would not be\u00a0Dani Carvajal\u00a0either. The defender, who won last summer\u2019s Euros with\u00a0Spain\u00a0was Los Blancos\u2019 other major candidate.<\/p>\n
At the club\u2019s offices, they argued that if Vinicius Jr did not win and they looked to the\u00a0European Championship, Carvajal would have to be ahead of the rest, including another Madrid player, England\u2019s\u00a0Jude Bellingham.<\/p>\n
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\u00a0Rodri, another of Spain\u2019s Euros winners but a star for\u00a0Premier League\u00a0champions\u00a0Manchester City,\u00a0crowned the world\u2019s best footballer for 2023-24.<\/p>\n
Here,\u00a0The Athletic<\/em>\u00a0takes you inside a horrible 48 hours for Vinicius Jr and Madrid.<\/p>\n No one at Real Madrid expected this outcome.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n While some reports in Spain indicated Vinicius Jr would be named the winner for the first time,\u00a0The Athletic<\/em>\u00a0reported on Monday\u00a0that neither Real Madrid, Vinicius Jr nor most of those who work at France Football (the publication which created the award) knew the winner.<\/p>\n Previously, there had been complete confidence in Madrid that Vinicius Jr would lift the trophy.<\/p>\n \u201cI think he\u2019s going to win the Ballon d\u2019Or because of what he has done last year, which helped us win the\u00a0Champions League, not because of the three goals today,\u201d Carlo Ancelotti said on Tuesday after the 24-year-old\u2019s hat-trick inspired his team to a comeback victory over\u00a0Borussia Dortmund.<\/p>\n That hope was partly a consolation, a painkiller for the home drubbing by Barcelona on Saturday, a result which took Hansi Flick\u2019s side six points clear at the top of\u00a0La Liga.<\/p>\n On Sunday morning, however, Vinicius Jr was informed he would not win the Ballon d\u2019Or. 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Vinicius Junior, Ballon d\u2019Or disappointment and Real Madrid\u2019s furious reaction On Sunday, not even 24 hours after the heavy blow of losing El Clasico 4-0 to\u00a0Barcelona\u00a0at the… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":4589,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hot-news"],"yoast_head":"\n
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