- Madrid boycotted the ceremony after hearing in advance that Rodri had won
- Rodri arrived for the ceremony on crutches with girlfriend Laura Iglesias
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Ballon d'Or winner Rodri arrived at the blue-chip Ballon d'Or ceremony on crutches alongside his Manchester City team-mates on Monday evening in Paris.
The Manchester City star donned a black suit, white shirt, and bow tie alongside girlfriend Laura Iglesias on the red carpet. An assistant briefly relieved him of his crutches, required due to his ACL injury, for the photographers.
Manchester United's Alejandro Garnacho - who had to take separate transport arrangements to the City stars after Sir Jim Ratcliffe's proposal was snubbed - donned similar garments.
He graced the carpet alongside his girlfriend Eva Garcia, who wore a sparkly dress for the ceremony at the Theatre du Chatelet.
Harry Kane was pictured alone on the welcome mat and deserves his place among the elite after a prolific start to his Bayern Munich career, having signed last season.
Rodri arrived for the Ballon d'Or ceremony on crutches but was spared them for this photograph with his girlfriend Laura Iglesias
Harry Kane poses on the red carpet after a prolific start to life with Bayern Munich in Germany
Alejandro Garnacho was one of the first players out on the carpet with girlfriend Eva Garcia
Lamine Yamal turned up with his family, including his father, Mounir, who was stabbed in the summer
Yamal laughs alongside fellow Barca stars Dani Olmo (left) and Pau Cubarsi (right)
Barcelona youngster Lamine Yamal turned up with his family - including his father, Mounir, who was stabbed over the summer - and led out fellow Barca stars Pau Cubarsi and Dani Olmo.
His Spanish counterpart Jenni Hermoso, who won the 2023 Women's World Cup and was the victim in the Luis Rubiales scandal, was not nominated but turned up in a purple suit.
Aston Villa stopper Emiliano Martinez, who last year won the Lev Yashin Trophy for being the best goalkeeper in the world, arrived to enjoy the occasion with wife Amanda 'Mandinha' Martinez.
Former Liverpool forward Djibril Cisse made a surprise outing on the red carpet donning a shiny black jacket complete with a gigantic flower of the same colour.
Ex-World Cup winner Mats Hummels, back among the nominees aged 35 and playing for Roma, was pictured with his partner Nicola Cavanis.
There was no sign of any Real Madrid stars after they decided to boycott the ceremony, with Vinicius Jr led to believe he had lost out to predicted winner Rodri - a forecast which proved to be true.
Spanish and French press reported no player, member of the management nor coaching staff from Real would be in attendance at the glitzy ceremony.
The shock news came after it was reportedly leaked on Sunday that the winner of football's most iconic individual prize was Vinicius Jr.
But in a twist of fate this list was wrong and the winner turned out to be Manchester City's midfield maestro, Rodri.
Ballon d'Or organisers urged on Monday afternoon ahead of the ceremony: 'No player and no club knows the winner of this year’s Ballon d'Or yet.'
Ruben Dias, one of many City representatives, looked serious ahead of the ceremony
Aston Villa stopper Emiliano Martinez shares a hug with wife Amanda Martinez
Jenni Hermoso, who won the World Cup in 2023 with Spain, smiles on the carpet
Mats Hummels, making his return at the age of 35, enjoys the occasion with Nicola Cavanis
RMC have reported that 'Real president Florentino Perez is furious' and as a consequence, the 'Real Madrid delegation has cancelled its visit to Paris'.
This comes despite Los Blancos also being set to win the Club of the Year award.
Posting on social media platform X, news page MadridXtra shared a quote from journalist Jose Luis Sanchez, saying: '50 people from Real Madrid were scheduled to travel to the Ballon d'Or Gala today. They cancelled the trip when they found out Vinicius wasn't the winner. Real Madrid are FURIOUS. @JLSanchez78'.
ESPN Brazil even went onto confirm that Real sources labelled the decision as 'historic robbery'.
Meanwhile, Marca reported that Real insiders have even claimed 'the Ballon d'Or no longer exists for us'.
In fact, a furious statement from Real to AFP said: 'If the award criteria doesn't give it to Vinicius as the winner, then those same criteria should point to Carvajal as the winner.
'As this was not the case, it is clear that Ballon d'Or-UEFA does not respect Real Madrid. And Real Madrid does not go where it is not respected.'
Vinicius was a hot favourite to win the 2024 Ballon d'Or after his epic contribution leading Madrid's frontline to a LaLiga-UEFA Champions League double.
Luis de la Fuente, who guided Spain to Euros glory in the summer, is present alongside multiple of his stars
Former Liverpool striker Djibril Cisse, who is not nominated, made a shock appearance
Legendary defender Marcel Desailly poses for the cameras ahead of the ceremony
YouTuber IShowSpeed, real name Darren Jason Watkins Jr, has not been nominated
