Barcelona appear to aim dig at LaLiga rivals Real Madrid with sarcastic tweet after they boycotted Ballon d'Or ceremony over Vinicius Jr snub
- Madrid canned their trip to the Ballon D'or gala after hearing Vini would not win
- Barcelona appeared to mock Madrid for their truancy, as did LaLiga club Sevilla
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Barcelona appeared to mock Real Madrid for bunking off the Ballon d'Or ceremony with a sarcastic tweet.
Madrid's 50-strong delegation skipped football's finest festival in Paris on Monday night after the bombshell news in advance that Vinicius Junior would not win the coveted prize.
Instead that honour fell in the lap of Manchester City maestro Rodri who, having arrived on crutches, left as Spain's first Ballon d'Or winner since Luis Suarez in 1960.
Madrid's absence made for awkward viewing when they won Club of the Year but had nobody present to collect it. Carlo Ancelotti also won the inaugural Johan Cruyff Trophy for men's managers while Kylian Mbappe shared the Gerd Muller Trophy with Harry Kane - but the England star had to celebrate on stage alone.
And rivals Barcelona seemed happy to mock Madrid's truancy, writing on X: 'We are truly honoured to be here. Thank you, Ballon d'Or, for such a warm and gracious welcome.'
Barcelona seemed to mock Real Madrid for not attending the Ballon d'Or ceremony on Monday
'We are truly honoured to be here. Thank you, Ballon d'Or, for such a warm and gracious welcome,' they wrote - an over-the-top message in contrast to Madrid's absence
Madrid stayed away after hearing in advance that Vinicius Junior had not won the Ballon d'Or
The cloying message, added to a retweeted video of their stars arriving on the red carpet, was accompanied by hand-shaking and tuxedo emojis which only amplified the sarcasm.
'I see what you guys are doing there,' wrote one fan on X.
'Admin knows what he is doing,' said another.
A more pointed comment read: 'We did show up even though we're not the favourites. Unlike the glory hunters.'
Sevilla also parodied Madrid, writing: 'BREAKING: Admin will NOT travel to Paris as Admin has been told they will NOT win the Ballon d'Or.'
If Los Blancos' refusal to attend did not seem stroppy enough, their reported sulky comments did the trick.
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'.
Man City star Rodri took home the men's Ballon d'Or while Aitana Bonmati won the women's version for the second year running
Brazil's Vinicius Junior had to settle for second while England's Jude Bellingham came third
Fans sensed that Barcelona were mocking Madrid for not showing up in Paris on Monday
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'.
Vinicius Jr had been slated to win the Ballon d'Or for the first time after his epic contribution leading Madrid's frontline to a LaLiga-UEFA Champions League double last season.
The Brazilian scored 24 goals and assisted 11 for Los Blancos while he also scored a couple of times at the Copa America, though the Selecao only made the quarter-finals.
He eventually finished second behind Rodri, who played 63 games for club and country last campaign. He only lost one: the FA Cup final to Manchester United.
Jude Bellingham came third, Dani Carvajal finished fourth, and Erling Haaland rounded off the top five.
