Carlo Ancelotti confirmed his conviction that Real Madrid Vinicius Jr should have won the 2024 Ballon d’Or instead of Manchester City Midfielder Rodri.
The actual headlines in October, after members of the club, including Ancelotti and Vinicius, decided not to attend the Ballon d’Or ceremony or in the clash that learning the Brazilian star did not win the prize.
Instead, the important midfielder of Spain and the city of Rodri received the famous award after helping his club in another Premier League title and won the Euro 2024, with Vinicius’s teammate Jude Bellingham coming in third.
Until now, Real has not previously spoken about the reasons not to attend the ceremony, where the team of the year were awarded, but Ancelotti has now broken his silence on the subject as the two sides are preparing to face two-squares. Champions League Knockout round play-off.
“We didn’t want to join because we thought Vinicius should have won the Ballon d’Or,” the Italian said.
“And that doesn’t mean we don’t respect Rodrigo, but we thought he should have won last year, not that.”
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City V real ‘one classic’
The city and Real face a Champions League knockout for the fourth consecutive time, with a real pre -promotion of two of these previous three meetings on their way to win the competition.
It has led many to record the meeting of modern classic football.
Ancelotti said: “Now it looks like a classic, it will be a fun fight as before. It is very difficult to predict what will happen because it depends on quality, personality.
“They (the races) have such a high level that you need to highlight the best version,” he explained.
Ancelotti: Facing Pep is a “nightmare”
Anecelotti got the best of Pep Gardiola last season, with a real victory in the quarter-finals after a 4-4 draw in total.
However, the 65 -year -old knows that he is facing another scary work against the winners of 2023.
“What I can say is that it seems to me a coach who contributed a lot to football: Occupation, attacks the game, pressing a building from the back.
“Every time we face each other, it’s a nightmare to prepare the races because it always has ideas that make you think.”
