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Cristiano Ronaldo believes Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior should have won the 2024 Ballon d'Or. The Brazilian narrowly missed out on the coveted prized this year, with Manchester City's Rodri handed the award.
The Spaniard won the Premier League and the UEFA Super Cup last season with City while lifting Euro 2024 with La Roja this summer. Vinicius, meanwhile, helped Los Blancos win LaLiga, the Champions League, and the Supercopa de Espana.
However, the 24-year-old finished second behind Rodri in the final Ballon d'Or rankings. Real Madrid were so furious that they skipped the award ceremony in protest.
At the Globe Soccer Awards gala, Cristiano Ronaldo insisted that Vinicius deserved to win the award because he won the Champions League and scored in the final.
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"In my opinion he deserved to win the Ballon d'Or, it was unfair. I'll say it in front of everybody. They gave it to Rodrigo, he deserved it too but I think they should've given it to Vinicius because he won the UCL and he scored a goal in the final. When you deserve the award, you should give them the award," said Ronaldo.
Interestingly, Vinicius Junior won FIFA's The Best Award earlier this month. The 24-year-old secured 48 points, while Rodri finished second with 43 points. Real Madrid's Jude Bellingham secured third place with 37 points.
How many Ballon d'Or awards has Cristiano Ronaldo won with Real Madrid?
Cristiano Ronaldo has won five Ballon d'Or awards in his career, four of which were lifted during his time with Real Madrid. The Portuguese won the coveted award for the first time as a Manchester United player in 2008.
CR7's intense rivalry with Lionel Messi also revolves around the coveted prize. For context, the Argentinean has won the award a record eight times.
Ronaldo completed his dream move to the Santiago Bernabeu in the summer of 2009 and went on to touch greater heights. He established himself as one of the finest in the history of the beautiful game with Los Blancos. He won his second Ballon d'Or in 2013 and his third in 2014. The Portuguese went on to lift the award in 2016 and 2017 as well.
Interestingly, the 39-year-old hasn't won the award since leaving Real Madrid in 2018 to join Juventus. Cristiano Ronaldo last had a podium finish in 2019, when Lionel Messi won the top prize and Virgil van Dijk came second.
