Rodri wins Ballon d'Or: How Man City star became the best player in the world

The 28-year-old was already considered one of the favourites for the award on the back of another exceptional individual and collective season for club and country, but Real Madrid wing wizard Vinicius Junior was originally expected to take home the prize.

However, Real Madrid apparently learned on Monday that the Brazil international would not be winning the accolade, leaving Los Blancos furious and causing them to incredibly cancel their trip to Paris.

True enough, there were no Real representatives at the Theatre du Chatelet in the French capital, even though Vinicius, Jude Bellingham and Dani Carvajal joined Rodri in the top four of the Ballon d'Or voting.

With his crutches in tow following his serious ACL injury, Rodri became the first-ever player from Manchester City to be bestowed with the Ballon d'Or, the first from the Premier League since Cristiano Ronaldo in 2008 and just the second Spaniard to win the men's prize after Alfredo Di Stefano (1957 and 1959) and Luis Suarez (1960).

The former Atletico Madrid man was visibly overcome with emotion as he collected his trophy from legendary striker George Weah, and from a quick glance at the statistics to watching his mastery through the naked eye, his triumph was more than merited.

The numbers behind Rodri's historic Ballon d'Or triumph

There would be no repeat of the 2022-23 treble for Manchester City in the 2023-24 campaign, but Pep Guardiola's side still cemented their status as the best in the land with an unprecedented fourth straight Premier League title as Rodri made 34 appearances, missing three games through suspension and one through a tactical decision.

With creator-in-chief Kevin De Bruyne missing a good chunk of the campaign through injury, Phil Foden and Rodri took it upon themselves to make up the numbers that the Belgian provided from the centre of the park, the former netting eight times and providing nine assists in league action.

For a supposed number six, Rodri has been transformed into an omnipotent lynchpin who is equally proficient in the opposition's half as he is his own defensive third - from breaking up attacks, driving his team forward or coming up with a thunderbolt from range, the 28-year-old can do it all.

From a half-century of appearances at club level last season, Rodri was directly involved in 23 goals in all tournaments - nine of his own and 14 assists - and he ended the season unbeaten in a staggering 50 Premier League matches in a Man City jersey.

Also making more touches (3,988), progressive passes (376) and passes into the final third (378) than any other Premier League player last term, Rodri was deservedly nominated to the 2023-24 PFA Team of the Year, after which he dazzled for Spain en route to Euro 2024 glory.

Starting all but one of Spain's games and netting in their last-16 success over Georgia, Rodri's final against England ended prematurely due to injury, but he was nevertheless named the Player of the Tournament and was inevitably named into the Team of the Tournament too.

Who else won big at the Ballon d'Or ceremony?

Prior to Rodri's crowning, Barcelona and Spain star Aitana Bonmati successfully defender her Ballon d'Or Feminin title as the best women's player on the planet, beating teammates Salma Paralluelo and Caroline Graham Hansen to the award.

Barcelona and the absent Real Madrid were honoured on a couple of occasions on Monday evening, as 17-year-old Blaugrana sensation Lamine Yamal beat Arda Guler and Manchester United's Kobbie Mainoo to the Kopa Trophy for the Best Under-21 player.

Kylian Mbappe - who finished sixth in the overall Ballon d'Or voting - shared the Gerd Muller Trophy with Harry Kane, while Aston Villa and Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez defended his Yashin Trophy as the best goalkeeper on the planet.

Elsewhere, Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti won the Men's Coach of the Year, while Chelsea and the USA's Emma Hayes was honoured with the corresponding Women's prize, both of which were named after the late Johan Cruyff.

Los Blancos also won the Men's Club of the Year, as Barcelona were named the Women's Team of the Year, and the Socrates Award for humanitarian work went to Spain forward Jennifer Hermoso for her campaigning against sexual abuse after the Luis Rubiales scandal.

2024 Ballon d'Or ceremony winners:

Ballon d'Or: Rodri (Manchester City/Spain)

Ballon d'Or Feminin: Aitana Bonmati (Barcelona/Spain)

Kopa Trophy: Lamine Yamal (Barcelona/Spain)

Yashin Trophy: Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa/Argentina)

Gerd Muller Trophy: Harry Kane (Bayern Munich/England) and Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain/France)

Men's Coach of the Year: Carlo Ancelotti (Real Madrid)

Women's Coach of the Year: Emma Hayes (Chelsea/USA)

Men's Club of the Year: Real Madrid

Women's Club of the Year: Barcelona

Socrates Award: Jennifer Hermoso

2024 Ballon d'Or men's rankings in full:

1. Rodri (Manchester City/Spain)

2. Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid/Brazil)

3. Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid/England)

4. Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid/Spain)

5. Erling Haaland (Manchester City/Norway)

6. Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain/France)

7. Lautaro Martinez (Inter Milan/Argentina)

8. Lamine Yamal (Barcelona/Spain)

9. Toni Kroos (Real Madrid/Germany)

10. Harry Kane (Bayern Munich/England)

11. Phil Foden (Manchester City/England)

12. Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen/Germany)

13. Dani Olmo (RB Leipzig/Spain)

14. Ademola Lookman (Atalanta BC/Nigeria)

15. Nico Williams (Athletic Bilbao/Spain)

16. Granit Xhaka (Bayer Leverkusen/Switzerland)

17. Federico Valverde (Real Madrid/Uruguay)

18. Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa/Argentina)

19. Martin Odegaard (Arsenal/Norway)

20. Hakan Calhanoglu (Inter Milan/Turkey)

21. Bukayo Saka (Arsenal/England)

22. Antonio Rudiger (Real Madrid/Germany)

23. Ruben Dias (Manchester City/Portugal)

24. William Saliba (Arsenal/France)

25. Cole Palmer (Chelsea/England)

26. Declan Rice (Arsenal/England)

27. Vitinha (Paris Saint-Germain/Portugal)

28. Alejandro Grimaldo (Bayer Leverkusen/Spain)

29. Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund/Germany)

=29. Artem Dovbyk (Girona/Ukraine)

2024 Ballon d'Or Feminin rankings in full:

1. Aitana Bonmati (Barcelona/Spain)

2. Caroline Graham Hansen (Barcelona/Norway)

3. Salma Paralluelo (Barcelona/Spain)

4. Sophia Smith (Portland Thorns/USA)

5. Lindsey Horan (Lyon/USA)

6. Mallory Swanson (Chicago Red Stars/USA)

7. Marie-Antoinette Katoto (Paris Saint-Germain/France)

8. Mariona Caldentey (Barcelona/Spain)

9. Trinity Rodman (Washington Spirit/USA)

10. Alexia Putellas (Barcelona/Spain)

11. Patri Guijarro (Barcelona/Spain)

12. Barbra Banda (Orlando Pride/Zambia)

13. Lauren James (Chelsea/England)

14. Ada Hegerberg (Lyon/Norway)

15. Khadija Shaw (Manchester City/Jamaica)

16. Tabitha Chawinga (Lyon/Malawi)

17. Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars/USA)

18. Gabi Portilho (Corinthians/Brazil)

19. Giulia Gwinn (Bayern Munich/Germany)

20. Lucy Bronze (Barcelona/England)

21. Mayra Ramirez (Chelsea/Colombia)

22. Glodis Viggosdottir (Bayern Munich/Iceland)

23. Tarciane (Houston Dash/Brazil)

24. Lea Schuller (Bayern Munich/Germany)

25. Sjoeke Nusken (Chelsea/Germany)

26. Yui Hasegawa (Manchester City/Japan)

27. Manuela Giugliano (Roma/Italy)

28. Lauren Hemp (Manchester City/England)

29. Ewa Pajor (Wolfsburg/Poland)

30. Grace Geyoro (Paris Saint-Germain/France)