Man City fans taunt Real Madrid and Vinicius Junior over Ballon d’Or
Man City fans taunt Real Madrid and Vinicius Junior over Ballon d’Or
Manchester City’s fans hold up a banner before the start of the Champions League playoff first leg soccer match between Manchester City and Real Madrid at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, England, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)
Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior reacts during the Champions League playoff first leg soccer match between Manchester City and Real Madrid at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, England, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Darren Staples)
Real Madrid’s head coach Carlo Ancelotti, left and Manchester City’s head coach Pep Guardiola share a laugh before the Champions League playoff first leg soccer match between Manchester City and Real Madrid at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, England, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Darren Staples)
Manchester City’s fans hold up a banner before the start of the Champions League playoff first leg soccer match between Manchester City and Real Madrid at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, England, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)
Manchester City’s fans hold up a banner before the start of the Champions League playoff first leg soccer match between Manchester City and Real Madrid at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, England, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)
Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior reacts during the Champions League playoff first leg soccer match between Manchester City and Real Madrid at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, England, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Darren Staples)
Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior reacts during the Champions League playoff first leg soccer match between Manchester City and Real Madrid at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, England, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Darren Staples)
Real Madrid’s head coach Carlo Ancelotti, left and Manchester City’s head coach Pep Guardiola share a laugh before the Champions League playoff first leg soccer match between Manchester City and Real Madrid at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, England, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Darren Staples)
Real Madrid’s head coach Carlo Ancelotti, left and Manchester City’s head coach Pep Guardiola share a laugh before the Champions League playoff first leg soccer match between Manchester City and Real Madrid at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, England, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Darren Staples)
MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Manchester City fans taunted Real Madrid and Vinicius Junior ahead of their Champions League playoff on Tuesday by unfurling a giant banner of Rodri kissing the Ballon d’Or.
The Spain midfielder was voted the best player in the world last year ahead of Madrid forward Vinicius.
Madrid had boycotted the gala ceremony in Paris in October when Rodri was presented with soccer’s most prestigious individual award.
“Stop crying your heart out” read a message on the banner inside Etihad Stadium in reference to a hit record by Manchester rock band Oasis.
On Monday, Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti defended the club’s Ballon d’Or no-show.
“I don’t think it was the wrong decision,” he said. “We didn’t want to participate because we thought that Vinicius was the winner of the Ballon d’Or.
“And this doesn’t mean we have no respect of Rodri that won the Ballon d’Or because he is a fantastic player. But I think we thought, and I thought, that Rodrigo deserved to win the year before.”
City manager Pep Guardiola had said earlier that there was no bad blood between the rivals after the controversy — and defender Ruben Dias also downplayed it.
“Being very honest with you, I didn’t spend one second thinking about if it was disrespectful or not. I was happy with Rodri. I was there. I celebrated with him that night,” Dias said.
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James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer