The Ballon d’Or Snub: The world was thrown into mixed reactions after the shocking best football player award ceremony that went down in France on Monday 28th October, 2024. Many football lovers only got to discover that the supposed favorite was not awarded in the Men’s category.
The snub also raised concerns for Vinicius Jr, his manager Carlo Ancelotti, and the entire Real Madrid Management.
Real Madrid as a club has made a statement after the whole ceremony, accusing UEFA of not awarding Vinicius or Carvajal the prestigious award. And as a result of that, they refused all member of the club from attending the ceremony; hence the absence of Carlo Ancelotti who was not present to receive the best coach of the year award given to him. This was their statement:
“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’s clear that the Ballon d’Or-UEFA doesn’t respect Real Madrid. And Real Madrid doesn’t go near where it’s not respected.”
Vinicius spoke and cried out after the Ballon d’Or award was not given to him. These were his words:
“I know many people never wanted me to win the Ballon d’Or, well i didn’t win it, hopefully, they are happy now. Despite my stats, trophies, and personal accolades, they still gave the award to someone else. I don’t want to say I was robbed however my achievements could’ve spoken.
I was confused and disappointed when the news reached us. I even wondered if their decision has anything to do with my race but it’s okay. I’ll work harder like never before. I’ll do it 10x if I have to, they’re not ready.”
Weekday Matches
Italian Serie A
Atalanta vs Monza: Atalanta continued their form on Thursday night in the Italian Seire A, after defeating Monza by 2 goals to nothing. The scoreline at half-time was barren and the second half was loaded with perseverance from the Atalanta side. In the 70th minute, an assist from Retegui Mateo, saw Samardzic Ladislav pulled one for Atalanta, and after getting the first goal, Samardzic Ladislav also provided an assist for Zappacosta Davide to who got the second goal in the 88th minute of the game.
This win now has Atalanta claimed their spot as number 3 on the Seria A table with 19 points.
AC Milan vs Napoli: It was a frustrating result for AC Milan as they suffer a 2 nil defeat to Antonio Conte’s men in a weekday Seria A match. This win saw Napoli topped the Italian League table with 25 points, giving Inter Milan a 4 point gap. Romelu Manema Lukaku opened the score line in the 5th minute of the game while Georgian international, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia got the second in the 43rd minute.
Napoli’s tactics saved the day and secured them the win as they proofed solid in the second half as they held AC Milan with no any goal recorded in the second half.
EFL Cup
Manchester Utd – Leicester: After Ten Hag’s sack, the Red Devils seemed to be back to winning ways. With just a game after the reshuffling, the team’s spirit is on a cruising level. The week day Carabao Cup fixture against the Fox of Leicester had Manchester United crushed the visitors by 5 goals to 2. The goal from Alejandro Garnacho and braces from Bruno Fernandes, and Carlos Henrique Jose Venancio Casemiro was just what they need to bring back the convincing winning days of the Club.
Tottenham vs Manchester City: The Struggling Citizens were defeated in ther mid-week Carabao Cup game by Tottenham Hotspur. Pep Guardiola will now have to be vehemently struggling as quite a good number of key players are on injury. City now has Rodri, Oscar Bobb, Kevin De Bruyne, Kyle Walker, Jack Grealish, Jeremy Doku, Manuel Akanji, Jasco Gvardiol, and Savinho Antonio Dos Santos, all on the injury list.
German Bundesliga
Bayern Leverkusen Vs Stuttgart: Bayern Leverkusen failed to secure a win over Stuttgart last night in the Bundesliga title race game. The game was a tight one for both teams. With a total of 7 yellow cards, 23 goal attempts, 12 corner kicks, 9 offsides, 6 goal keeper saves, 27 fouls, 18 ball interceptions, and 880 total passes, a barren draw was recorded as the scoreline.
Weekend Match Fixture Across Europe
Saturday 2nd November, 2024
ENGLAND: Premier League
Newcastle – Arsenal 12:30 pm
Bournemouth – Manchester City 3 pm
Ipswich – Leicester 3 pm
Liverpool – Brighton 3pm
Nottingham – West Ham 3pm
Southampton – Everton 3pm
Wolves – Crystal Palace 5:30pm
FRANCE: Ligue 1
PSG – Lens 4pm
Brest – Nice 6pm
St Etienne – Strasbourg 8pm
GERMANY: Bundesliga
Bayern Munich – Union Berlin 2:30pm
Eintracht Frankfurt – Bochum 2:30pm
Hoffenheim – St. Pauli 2:30pm
Holstein Kiel – Heidenheim 2:30pm
Wolfsburg – Augsburg 2:30pm
Dortmund – RB Leipzig 5:30pm
ITALY: Serie A
Bologna – Lecce 2pm
Udinese – Juventus 5pm
Monza – AC Milan 7:45pm
NETHERLANDS: Eredivisie
Willem II – Twente 3:30pm
Ajax – PSV 5:45pm
Heracles – NAC Breda 5:45pm
Feyenoord – AZ Alkmaar 8pm
Sittard – Heerenveen 8pm
SPAIN: LaLiga
Osasuna – Valladolid 1pm
Girona – Leganes 3:15pm
PORTUGAL: Liga Portugal
Rio Ave – Casa Pia 3:30pm
SC Farense – Benfica 6pm
Gil Vicente – Boavista 8:30pm
BELGIUM: Jupiler Pro League
St. Liege – St. Truiden 3pm
Leuven – Club Brugge KV 5:15pm
KV Mechelen – Royale Union SG 7:45pm
SWITZERLAND: Super League
Basel – Winterthur 5pm
Zurich – Young Boys 5pm
St. Gallen – Sion 7:30pm
Sunday 3rd November, 2024
ENGLAND: Premier League
Tottenham – Aston Villa 2pm
Manchester Utd – Chelsea 4:30pm
FRANCE: Ligue 1
Toulouse – Reims 2pm
Auxerre – Rennes 4pm
Le Havre – Montpellier 4pm
Nantes – Marseille 7:45pm
GERMANY: Bundesliga
Freiburg – Mainz 2:30pm
B. Monchengladbach – Werder Bremen 4:30pm
ITALY: Serie A
Napoli – Atalanta 11:30am
Torino – Fiorentina 2pm
Verona – AS Roma 5pm
Inter Milan – Venezia 7:45pm
NETHERLANDS: Eredivisie
G.A. Eagles – Zwolle 11:15am
Nijmegen – Groningen 1:30pm
Sparta Rotterdam – Utrecht 1:30pm
Waalwijk – Almere City 3:45pm
SPAIN: LaLiga
Atl. Madrid – Las Palmas 1pm
Barcelona – Espanyol 3:15pm
Sevilla – Real Sociedad 5:30pm
Ath Bilbao – Betis 8pm
BELGIUM: Jupiler Pro League
Genk – Antwerp 11:30am
Cercle Brugge KSV – Charleroi 3pm
Anderlecht – Kortrijk 5:30pm
Beerschot VA – Gent 6:15pm
PORTUGAL: Liga Portugal
AVS – Famalicao 3:30pm
Arouca – Braga 6pm
Vitoria Guimaraes – Moreirense 6pm
FC Porto – Estoril 8:30pm
SWITZERLAND: Super League
Lausanne – Servette 1:15pm
Lugano – Yverdon 3:30pm
Luzern – Grasshoppers 3:30pm
