Mats Hummels has hit out at Real Madrid and compared the Spanish giants to Donald Trump amid the fall out surrounding the Ballon d’Or.
It has been a difficult week for Los Blancos, who suffered a heavy 4-0 defeat against Barcelona last weekend, leaving them six points behind their arch-rivals in LaLiga.
Vinicius Jr then missed out on the Ballon d’Or on Monday, leading to a furious reaction at the Bernabeu.
The club – who had believed the Brazilian was going to win the award – subsequently refused to attend the ceremony and hit out at the organisers, claiming the snub was due to a ‘lack of respect’ for Real.
This meant they were not present to collect their gong for Club of the Year, while Carlo Ancelotti also failed to pick up his Men’s Manager of the Year award.
And Hummels, who came 29th in the rankings for the prestigious prize, called out Real for their behaviour.
‘Unfortunately, it’s disrespectful to the others. That’s the worst thing!’
Hummels’ accusations of a ‘Trumpian feel’ is in relation to the 2020 US election when Donald Trump was defeated by Joe Biden, before he alleged that he only lost due to election fraud.
It had originally been reportedly on Sunday that the winner of football’s most iconic individual prize was set to be Vinicius.
But in a twist of fate this list was wrong and on Monday afternoon it was revealed the winner was in fact Manchester City star, Rodri, infuriating Real.
RMC reported that Real president Florentino Perez was angered and as a consequence, cancelled the club’s visit to Paris, with 50 people having previously planned to travel to the ceremony.
ESPN Brazil even went onto confirm that Real sources labelled the decision as ‘historic robbery’.
Meanwhile, Marca claimed Real insiders said ‘the Ballon d’Or no longer exists for us’.
In fact, a statement from Real to AFP said: ‘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 is clear that Ballon d’Or-UEFA does not respect Real Madrid. And Real Madrid does not go where it is not respected.’
Vinicius ultimately came second in the rankings, with his Real team-mates Jude Bellingham and Dani Carvajal coming third and fourth respectively, with the vote likely split between the three stars.
After he was confirmed as the runners-up, the 24-year-old posted on X: ‘I will do it 10 times if I have to. They’re not ready.’
He then shared a photo of his Real’s full squad and management just hours later in what was interpreted as a show of defiance.
Real return to action on Tuesday when they travel to take on AC Milan in the Champions League.