Before last year's Ballon d'Or ceremony, there was actually quite a lot of controversy about whether Messi or Haaland won the Ballon d'Or. Because at that time, Haaland did have a good chance to hit the Ballon d'Or, leading Manchester City to win the treble, and he was also the top scorer in the three major competitions.
Another Manchester City superstar, Rodri, has also become a big favorite for a while, because he is also a core player for Manchester City to win the championship, and his performance in the Spanish national team is also quite good. But in the end, Rodri's ranking was not as high as everyone expected. This result also lets everyone know that there is indeed considerable controversy in the selection of the Golden Globe Awards. In the subsequent World Footballer of the Year selection, Messi once again overpowered Haaland and Rodri and others, which also brought the controversy to its peak.
Rodri also stood up this time and publicly connotated Messi's Ballon d'Or. Rodri said: "It's normal that I didn't make it to the top five at the Ballon d'Or because it needs marketing. The amount of money and publicity that other players have invested here is not comparable to us, so I accept that I didn't win the Ballon d'Or. In the past, several of Spain's midfielders have not been able to win the Ballon d'Or".
Rodri's connotation this time is also to publicly bombard the unfairness of the Golden Globe Awards. Originally, there has been a lot of discussion around Messi stealing the Ballon d'Or and the World Footballer of the Year award recently. The Manchester City superstar also stood up and made it public, which really made fans start to question Messi's winning these awards and the so-called marketing of the football king. And Ronaldo's prophecy has come true, Messi did use some methods to win the Ballon d'Or that did not belong to him.