It was an historic night for Spanish football. The two biggest clubs were declared the best in both the male and female categories, the prodigious 17-year old won the youth award, a Spanish woman won her second consecutive honour, and a Spanish man became the first to win in that category since 1960. However, the 2024 gala ceremony in Paris will be remembered as the one with the Madridista meltdown, the Ballon d’Or boycott.
Aitana Bonmatí and Rodri pose for the cameras.
Firstly, it is loath to write about something as superficial as individual awards, especially when there are so many interesting topics in Spanish football right now. But, like it or not, this matters to a lot of people. The point is it probably matters far too much for others.
The build-up to the prestigious ceremony always begins early. Marca talked Vini Jr up a month ago with the portada “all roads lead to gold”.Ironically, this ‘headline’ relegated the significant news of Rodri’s knee injury to the sideline. Just last week, Carlo Ancelotti was joking that Vini’s Champions League hat-trick would serve him for next year’s award. It seemed like a done deal. But by Monday morning, it was leaked that the Manchester City midfielder was in fact expected to win, and Real Madrid did not react well to this.
How it started…
Despite plans for grand delegations, eye-catching outfits, prepared speeches and after-parties, the club decided against travelling to the French capital, such was their indignation at the perceived snub to their star. They even cancelled the programming on Real Madrid TV. This all comes on the back of a season when the club enjoyed incredible success, extending their European hegemony and winning LaLiga yet again. Many of their stars ranked highly in the standings, with Ancelotti himself crowned as Coach of the Year. For the Spanish contingent, too, this was supposed to be a night when they could bask further in the glory of their summer exploits, celebrating together with their national team counterparts.
Instead they chose institutional head-loss. A decision which more closely resembles children having a tantrum than dignified humility of a globally-recognised and respected juggernaut.
To contextualise, Real Madrid has always been a club which cares too much about this award. Elevating an individual in a team sport fits in perfectly with the Galácitco projects and grandiose signings like Cristiano Ronaldo and now Kylian Mbappé. When you pass through the large rooms of the Bernabéu tour, you can feel multiple things at once: impressed, mesmerised even, but also aware at how much significance is placed on individuality. There is an entire wall dedicated to honouring Ballon d’Or winners, including those who won it before even joining the club (Michael Owen, 2001, comes to mind). They proudly declare that the great Alfredo Di Stéfano is the only player ever to win a Super Ballon d’Or, awarded in 1989.
A section of Real Madrid’s Ballon d’Or collection, with the Super Ballon d’Or.
In short, this really does matter to them. However, there is a partial contradiction at play. On other walls are quotes from esteemed figures within the club, including one from President Florentino Pérez:
“Madridismo means values such as sacrifice, effort, hard work, desire for self-improvement, humility, respect and solidarity”.
There wasn’t much of this present on Monday. Instead, almost half of Spain was fuming on the very day that Spaniards all but cleaned up at the ceremony.
There were conspiracy theories, asserting that UEFA is now involved and still resents Real Madrid for their part in the Super League project, and this was punishment for that. This forgets that the awards are voted for by professionals and journalists from around the World. Suggesting UEFA could manipulate results on this scale gives them far too much credit. More likely, voters saw Rodri as the more complete fit, a phenomenal footballer, integral to his club and country, and eschewing values akin to which Madridismo claims to possess.
“I want to remember Carvajal, who suffered the same injury as me and who deserves to be here like me. Today is not a victory for me, it is for Spanish football. So many players who have not won it an deserved to, like [Andrés] Iniesta, Xavi, Iker [Casillas], [Sergio] Busquets. I’m a normal boy with values, who tries to do things well”.
Perhaps the club can be forgiven for a knee-jerk reaction from which they could not back away from; the sharp sting of discovering that Vini would not win catching them off guard. However, if that was the case, some gracious humility could have been expected by the time of the ceremony. Alas, no. The club and its players doubled down, posting messages on social media, not congratulating Rodri or other recipients. It was all compounded by Vini’s envious, egotistical tweet:
“I will do it ten times if I have to. They’re not ready”.
Not even Cristiano Ronaldo would have reacted in such a way. At the height of the tiresome, tedious Messi vs Ronaldo years, each was there to smile and clap when the other was awarded the Ballon d’Or.
Vini was second, with Jude Bellingham third and Dani Carvajal fourth. That should have been celebrated, but instead they are wallowing with bruised egos, as if Rodri beating their man to the punch is some grand crime against football.
Even Carlo Ancelotti, the wise uncle, one of the greatest coaches of all time, got caught up in the melodrama. When he should have been on the podium receiving the Johan Cruyff Trophy, he was back in Madrid, tweeting thanks to his family, the club, the President and “above all Vini and Carvajal”. He apparently forgot about Bellingham. On Spanish radio, they informed that the Italian valued the Champions League in London as his real Ballon d’Or. The fact that competition finals are indeed how the winners in football are actually judged, rather than individual awards, was seemingly an irony too far.
All in all, a day and a night which should have been about celebrating the quality and richness of Spanish football ended up being all about one man and one club. The events of Monday shame a great club like Real Madrid. No player is above the institution. But they fell woefully short of their standards and their values. We are all poorer for it.
