Barcelona can't resist Ballon d'Or dig at Real Madrid following ceremony boycott

Barcelona thanked the Ballon d'Or for their "warm welcome" to the awards shindig on Monday night- as Real Madrid boycotted the ceremony and accused organisers of disrespect.

Football's leading lights gathered in Paris for Monday night's ceremony. Barcelona had two players nominated in Lamine Yamal and Dami Olmo. Real meanwhile were hoping they would have the winner in Vinicius Jnr.

The Brazilian excelled as Los Blancos won the Champions League, but reports leaked out suggesting Manchester City's Rodri had won the award. As a result all those connected with Real - led by president Florentino Perez - chose to boycott the event.

Barcelona though couldn't be happier with Yamal landing the Kopa Trophy following a sensational year. They shared footage of their players on the red carpet and said: "We are truly honoured to be here. Thank you, @ballondor, for such a warm and gracious welcome."

Olmo, who moved from RB Leipzig to Barcelona in the summer, has been announced as finishing 13th. Yamal though made the top 10 - becoming the youngest player to do so- finishing eighth.

Real have a number of top 10 finishers including Vinicius, Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham. None of them are present though with the Spanish giants accusing the Ballon d'Or organisers and UEFA of disrespecting them.

They told AFP : "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."

Real Madrid have boycotted the ceremony as news emerged that Vinicius Jnr has not won the Ballon d'Or
(Image: Diego Souto/Getty Images)

Real have often been the home of the Ballon d'Or winner. Over the past two decades they've seen four different players land the award - Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema among them - but look like they won't add to that haul.

Many expected the Ballon d'Or to come down to Vinicius and Rodri. The City midfielder was named as the best player at Euro 2024 as Spain won the tournament.

In the history of the Ballon d'Or Real and Barcelona are tied for the most winners - each having claimed it on 12 occasions. For the Catalans six of those came courtesy of Lionel Messi.

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