Rodri hits back at Cristiano Ronaldo over Vinicius Ballon d’or statement – ‘He knows better than anyone’ | OneFootball

Cristiano Ronaldo passed a bold statement last month at the Globe Soccer Awards Gala, stating that Real Madrid ace Vinicius Jr. deserved the Ballon d’Or and that him not winning was ‘unfair’.

Ronaldo’s statements, needless to say, have not gone down well with the eventual winner Rodri of Manchester City and he came out openly to give his reaction earlier this week.

Rodri is surprised

As relayed in an update by Mundo Deportivo, the Manchester City midfielder stated that he was surprised by Ronaldo’s statement, especially given how the Portuguese star himself won the ward on several occasions and knew the voting process.

“It’s a surprise, the truth because he knows better than anyone how this award works and, above all, how to choose the winner. This year the journalists who vote have considered that I should win it,” said Rodri.

Rodri beat Vinicius to the Ballon d’Or. (Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images)

He added that it was largely the same jury of journalists who decided that he deserved the award who voted for Ronaldo in the past, thus subtly calling out the Al-Nassr star’s double standards.

“Probably, these same journalists were the ones who at some point voted for him to win it, and I imagine that then he would agree.”

While he did win the Ballon d’Or, Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr. took home FIFA’s Best Mens Player award and Globe Soccer’s equivalent accolade later in the year and thus set his account straight.

Given his form towards the end of the year, the Brazilian is surely hunting for the next Ballon d’Or.