A night of contrasts at the Châtelet theatre in Paris. Real Madrid has been chosen as the best club in the world and no one there has collected the award. Rodri did, however, moving on crutches to receive the recognition of world soccer with the second Spanish Ballon d'Or.
Rodri delivered an emotional speech to show gratitute: "Thank you to my family, for helping me, to my agent. Who would've told us that we'd be here today? To Manchester City, to the staff and to the players. Without you I wouldn't be here, it's the best club in the world."
Rodri Remembers Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets
And he also remembered Spanish soccer: "I remember Luis de la Fuente. I remember Carvajal, he deserves to be here. I remember Lamine. He keeps working hard. This is not just a victory for me. It is for all of Spanish soccer and it goes out to all those who didn't win it: Xavi, Iniesta, Iker, Busi..."
Rodri concluded: "It's an incredible night for me. I have a lot to thank, a lot of people, France Football and UEFA for. I'm grateful to those who voted for me. It's a very special day for my family and for my country. I'm grateful to Laura, my girlfriend. Without you, this journey wouldn't have been the same."
Rodrigo has beaten the other three finalists: Bellingham, Vinícius and Carvajal. All three from Real Madrid.
And if Rodrigo travelled to Paris to collect the award, Lamine Yamal also went to receive the Kopa Trophy. This makes him the best U-21 footballer in the world.
Lamine Yamal also Defeats Arda Güler
Lamine Yamal has picked up the first of a long list of accolades that await him throughout his career. He could win four more Kopa Awards, but next year he'll already be among the favorites to win the Ballon d'Or.
Lamine has outperformed the other finalists. Real Madrid player Arda Güler came second. Manchester United's Kobbie Mainoo came third; Savinho (Girona-Manchester City) came fourth and his teammate and fellow Barça youth player Pau Cubarsí came fifth.
Lamine Yamal succeeds Bellingham and Gavi and Pedri. Barça have won three of the last four Kopa awards at the Ballon d'Or gala.
Lamine Yamal Remembers Xavi
He's also the youngest player to receive the trophy, aged 17 years and 109 days. In his calm speech, as he is, as he demonstrated at Bernabéu in his reaction to the racist insults he received, he remembered all those who have helped him get to this point.
"It's an honor to receive this award and I wanted to thank my mother, my father and my grandmother, who've always helped me. I wanted to remember the coaches, the national team, Barcelona, Luis, Xavi and visca Barça and the 304," he said.
And he added: "Many thanks to all my teammates and for more. I hope I can win the Ballon d'Or as soon as possible. The most important thing is to have fun. When you have fun everything turns out better."
About Barça, he said that they are going after everything: "La Liga, the Champions League and everything that's possible. We'll go for more."
Real Madrid's Bad Losing Streak is on Everyone's Lips
While Lamine Yamal was enjoying his moment of glory, the room was full of talk about Real Madrid's bad loss. They had planned to bring 50 people to celebrate Vinícius's victory.
In Paris, it was said that Real Madrid hadn't lived up to its anthem: "When they lose, they shake hands. Without envy or resentment. Like a good and faithful brother." It's clear that in this case Real Madrid didn't know how to lose. And after the 4-0 in the classic, their attitude in walking away from the gala was the most talked about by everyone. Another blot on their record.
It was surprising that Emilio Butragueño, who is considered a gentleman by everyone on the international scene, agreed to his club's protest and didn't show up to collect the award.
France Soccer Mocks Vinícius
The official channel broadcasting the gala made fun of Vinícius with a meme in which he's seen being held in Lamine Yamal's arms. In reality, he was holding his little brother and the France Football channel put the face of the Real Madrid player on him.
Manager Luis De la Fuente wasn't happy with the absence of Real Madrid at the gala. "It's not good for soccer that such an important entity as Real Madrid and with so many fans worldwide is not present at a gala of this nature," he said in front of the Movistar cameras.
He added: "I'm very sorry, everyone makes the decisions they have to make and they are all respectable. However, I would've liked the whole world of soccer and all of Spanish soccer to be represented. We are responsible for leaving it in the best possible place."
Even former Madrid player Figo has joined in against Real Madrid: "It seems that Vini will not win the Ballon d'Or, but in the end this is a soccer celebration."
A Racist Issue?
As expected, Vinícius's entourage has begun to spread the theory that the reason he wasn't given the Ballon d'Or was due to racism.
Arda Güler lost the Kopa trophy, which was awarded to Lamine Yamal. Lunin didn't win the Yashin either, which went to the Argentine Dibu Martínez.
However, Carlo Ancelotti did win the Johan Cruyff Award, which designates the best coach in the world.
Joan Laporta did take the stage to collect the award. Barça was acknowledged as the best women's soccer club in the world for the second consecutive year. Barça won absolutely everything: Champions League, Liga F, Super Cup and Copa de la Reina.
Aitana Bonmatí received the Ball and Barça boasted about being on the podium. It was just as in 2011 when Messi, Xavi and Iniesta took the places among the three finalists. This time, Aitana Bonmatí was flanked by the Norwegian Graham-Hansen and Salma Paralluego: a blaugrana festival.
Laporta Thanks the Organization
Joined by the stars of his team, Laporta thanked the organisation for the award, erasing the bad taste left by Real Madrid.
“Thanks to France Football for this award, thanks to everyone who is part of the club, especially the players, for making Barça the best women's soccer team in the world. Receiving this honor is very special, it is a commitment to women's soccer, to freedoms and to gender equality,” said the Barça president.
Barça have won the last two Champions Leagues in a row. Three of the last four, with five finals in the last seven years.