Vinícius Jr. Suffers Double Blow: Misses Ballon d’Or and Chance to Secure Top Spot at Real Madrid, Mbappé Avoids Embarrassment

The highly anticipated Ballon d’Or ceremony took place in Paris tonight, with Manchester City’s Rodrigo officially crowned as the winner, earning his first Ballon d’Or honor in his career. This means that Vinícius Jr., who was a strong favorite, missed out on the award and the opportunity to secure his position as the top player at Real Madrid. Meanwhile, Kylian Mbappé avoided a significant embarrassment.

The Ballon d’Or announced reforms in 2022, changing from an annual to a seasonal focus, placing greater emphasis on individual performance and contributions in the Champions League. From this perspective, Vinícius Jr. had valid reasons to win the award. After all, he delivered an impressive 24 goals and 9 assists last season and scored three crucial goals in the Champions League semi-finals and final, leading Real Madrid to their 15th Champions League title in club history.

At the start of the new season, although Vinícius Jr.’s statistics have slightly declined, he has still managed 8 goals and 5 assists in 15 matches across all competitions, with his market value rising to 200 million euros. Particularly in the recent Champions League match, Vinícius Jr. scored a hat-trick, helping Real Madrid overturn a 2-5 deficit against Dortmund, drawing significant attention.

Therefore, even Vinícius Jr. himself believed he would be the new Ballon d’Or winner. Despite the heavy defeat in the El Clásico, he boldly responded to Gavi, claiming he was about to receive the Ballon d’Or. However, as they say, man proposes but God disposes. Rodrigo was named the Ballon d’Or winner, turning Vinícius Jr.’s bold statements into a joke.

As the saying goes, “there are those who rejoice and those who grieve.” Rodrigo winning the Ballon d’Or is undoubtedly the biggest win, but Mbappé is also a potential beneficiary. Why is that?

Mbappé joined Real Madrid this summer, finally realizing his long-held dream. However, his performance has been underwhelming. Although his 8 goals and 2 assists in 14 appearances are not bad, Real Madrid’s overall performance has declined, and the 0-4 home loss to arch-rivals Barcelona in the El Clásico led to widespread criticism of Mbappé.

Moreover, there have been conflicts between Mbappé and Vinícius Jr. in terms of positions and ball distribution. Despite friendly interactions on the pitch, there have been ongoing struggles off the field for the top spot at Real Madrid, making Mbappé feel like an outsider. If Vinícius Jr. had won the Ballon d’Or first, he would naturally have become the leader, putting Mbappé in an even more awkward position.

It is well known that Mbappé has always had high self-esteem. Even with Messi and Neymar by his side, he has never been submissive. Being second to Vinícius Jr. would likely not satisfy him. Now that Vinícius Jr. has missed the Ballon d’Or, facing ridicule in the media and failing to secure his position as the top player within the team, it might not be such a bad thing for Mbappé.