Comments from Rodri about Vinicius Jr during an interview sparked a feisty response from Neymar on Instagram.
This year’s Ballon d’Or was awarded to Manchester City star Rodri, the first Premier League player winner since Cristiano Ronaldo in 2008.
Vinicius Jr was hotly tipped to receive the prestigious accolade that honours the world’s best men’s footballer for the previous season.
However, Real Madrid snubbed the October awards ceremony in Paris when it was reported beforehand that he would not take the crown.
It has since been revealed that just 41 points stood between Rodri in first and Vinicius Jr in second, an incredibly tight win for the former.
The 28-year-old offered some words of advice to his Ballon d’Or rival when recently speaking to Spanish sports outlet El Larguero.
“I think he’s an intelligent guy and he’ll realise over time that the more he pays attention to the pitch, the better he’ll be,” he said via Cadena SER.
“Like everyone, he has areas for improvement both on and off the pitch, he’s young.
“I’m sure that people will give him good advice and even more so when he’s at Madrid. It’s a club with values.”
However, Vinicius Jr’s Brazil teammate and Al Hilal forward Neymar was not a fan of Rodri’s comments and hit back on social media.
Instagram account futeousadia posted the quotes, with the former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain man commenting: “Virou falador agora.”
“He became a talker now,” this translates to in English, with Neymar seemingly believing that Vinicius Jr should have won the Ballon d’Or.
The 24-year-old winger certainly had a strong argument to be Brazil’s fifth recipient of the award and first since Kaka in 2007.
Vinicius Jr scored 24 goals for Madrid throughout the 2023/24 season and assisted another 11 across all competitions.
His contributions were pivotal to their treble win as they claimed the LaLiga, Champions League and Supercopa de Espana trophies.
However, it was Rodri who finished top of the voting standings in the 68th edition of world football’s most coveted individual prize.
City did not lose a single one of the 34 Premier League matches that he played in last season en route to the club’s eighth title win.
They won 27 of those fixtures and the midfielder netted eight goals, including in their crucial 3-1 win against West Ham on the final day.
Unfortunately for Rodri, it’s incredibly unlikely he’ll retain his Ballon d’Or crown in 2025 after suffered a ligament injury in his right knee.
It came in their 2-2 draw against Arsenal and means he is set to be out for the remainder of the 2024/25 season.
