The decision to award the world’s best player award to the midfielder came as a surprise, with Real Madrid’s two-time La Liga and Champions League winner Vinicius Junior widely considered the favorite.

Hours before the ceremony in Paris, the Spanish club announced that its delegation would not attend the ceremony at the Théâtre du Châtelet due to what it perceived as a snub towards Vinicius.

Rodri, 28, played a key role as City held off Arsenal to win the Premier League title last season and was named player of the tournament at Euro 2024 as underrated Spain emerged triumphant in Germany.

Rodri showed diplomacy when he addressed the issue of Real’s no-show in his post-award press conference.

“They made their decision, they didn’t want to be here for their reasons,” he said. “I only focus on my club and my teammates.”

Although French organizers insisted the identity of the winner was a closely guarded secret this year, the news appeared to have leaked before the festivities.

Barcelona and Spain star Aitana Bonmati earlier won her second consecutive women’s Ballon d’Or, after leading her club to a historic continental quadruple of titles and winning the Nations League with her country.

– Absence of Real Madrid –

The drama began hours before the ceremony when Spanish and European champions Real declared that if Vinicius was not the winner, then the prize should go to teammate Dani Carvajal.

Like the Brazilian, Carvajal scored in the 2-0 win over Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League final at Wembley.

Vinicius scored 24 goals and made 11 assists in 39 appearances in all competitions for Madrid as he led the club to three titles last season.

“If the award criteria do not give Vinicius as the winner, then these same criteria should designate Carvajal as the winner,” Real Madrid told AFP.

“As this was not the case, it is clear that the Ballon d’Or-UEFA does not respect Real Madrid. And Real Madrid does not go where it is not respected.”

The Madrid contingent of nominees also included Kylian Mbappe, Antonio Rudiger, Fede Valverde and Jude Bellingham.

The winner of the Ballon d’Or is chosen from among the finalists by an international jury made up of 100 specialized journalists.

The organizers, the Amaury group, owner of the sports daily L’Equipe and the magazine France Football, denied to AFP that the name of the successor to last year’s winner Lionel Messi had been leaked and insisted that ‘”no player or club” knew in advance who had won.

When Real were named men’s team of the year, a video was shown on stage in the absence of any club representatives.

– ‘Best in his position’ –

City manager Pep Guardiola described Rodri as ‘the best in his place’.

“He can do everything. The quality, he reads the game, his mentality, he is always ready,” Guardiola said.

In addition to his metronomic passing and ball-winning abilities, the former Atletico Madrid player has a knack for scoring crucial goals for club and country.

His goal won City their first Champions League in 2023, but he also scored vital goals for Spain, such as the equalizer in the Euro 2024 round of 16 tie against Georgia.

Rodri is so central to Manchester City that their last four Premier League defeats have all come while he has been away.

City are top of the Premier League but their chances of winning a fifth consecutive domestic title were dealt a blow in September when Rodri suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury, ruling him out for the season.

Bonmati, 26, joins Barcelona teammate Alexia Putellas as the only woman to have won the Ballon d’Or twice since the award’s inauguration in 2018.

“This cannot be achieved alone, I am very lucky to be surrounded by players who make me better every day,” Bonmati said.

The Catalans won every trophy at their disposal last season: the Spanish championship, the Cup, the Super Cup and a second consecutive Women’s Champions League.

ALSO READ