Rodri Fires Back at Cristiano Ronaldo's Ballon d'Or Criticism

Rodri did not hold back in his response to Cristiano Ronaldo's comments about his "unfair" Ballon d'Or win.

The controversy surrounding the 2024 Ballon d'Or ceremony is still making headlines three months later. At the 2024 Globe Soccer Awards, Ronaldo boldly claimed Rodri's Ballon d'Or win was "unfair" and Vinícius Júnior should have won the award for scoring in the Champions League final and later hoisting the trophy with Real Madrid.

In an interview with Diario AS, Rodri addressed Ronaldo's statement with one of his own: "Well, it’s a surprise, honestly, because he knows better than anyone how this award works and, above all, how the winner is chosen. This year, the journalists who voted decided I should win it. These same journalists probably voted for him to win it at some point, and I imagine he agreed with them then."

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Ronaldo took home the Ballon d'Or five times in his career and remains the player with the second-most Ballon d'Or awards, behind only Lionel Messi. The Portugal international first won the award in 2008 when he was on Manchester United and remained the last Premier League player to win the award before Rodri.

Rodri won the Ballon d'Or for the first time back in October after he topped the Premier League with Manchester City and won Euro 2024 with Spain. The Spaniard has had to deal with criticism from some of soccer's biggest names in the aftermath of his controversial win over Vinícius Júnior.

In fact, Real Madrid boycotted the 2024 Ballon d'Or ceremony in protest despite Jude Bellingham, Dani Carvajal, Kylian Mbappé, Toni Kroos, Fede Valverde and Antonio Rüdiger all earning nominations along with the Brazilian winger. Carlo Ancelotti also was not present to accept the Men's Johan Cruyff Trophy.

Vinícius Júnior went on to win The Best FIFA Men's Player Award over Rodri and received vocal support from Neymar, Kaká, Ronaldo Nazário and of course, plenty of Real Madrid legends from past and present.

Still, Rodri is blocking out the noise and riding the high of his Ballon d'Or victory as he recovers from his ACL injury. He called the winning moment "unforgettable" and stated that it "changed [his] life." Manchester City are surely counting down the days until they get their Ballon d'Or-winning player back in the midfield.