Vinicius Jr explains 'crying' celebration was response to Man City fans’ mockery over Ballon d’Or defeat to Rodri Real Madrid star downs Pep Guardiola's men in Champions League

The tension between the two European heavyweights has transcended tactical setups to become deeply personal. The interaction between Vinicius and the City supporters highlights how the 2024 Ballon d'Or results continue to reverberate through the Champions League. While Rodri's victory was a point of pride for the blue half of Manchester, it remains a sore point for the Madrid hierarchy, who famously boycotted the event. Vinicius' clinical performance — which saw him force a red card and score the decisive aggregate goal — served as a reminder of his status as one of the world's premier match-winners, regardless of individual accolades.

Man City boss Pep Guardiola said: "It is difficult once you are 4-0 down and playing 10 men against 11. But we did everything.

"We have an extraordinary team and an extraordinary group of players. The future is bright. It's a little bit of a learning [curve] but it should have been 11 against 11. But we never know. Maybe we lose 6-0 but it's a fact."

He added: "On Monday [after Carabao Cup final] hopefully we will wake up and it is a sunny day. It is not crucial, it is a football game, we are going to try to win with a good performance.

"We will challenge against the best team in England so far, the best team in Europe because look at their results in the group phase, they were first and have lost three or four games all season. We will challenge them and we have to see how we are competing against them."

He also defended their form, adding: "After one or two weeks, we play against them in the Premier League and it is a good mirror to see what we have to do to achieve [like] them. I am old enough to see that one football game is not the big happiness or a loss is the end of the world, it's just a game.

"In the end, the results have not been good except Newcastle but I have the feeling we are an extraordinary team with many, many, many good things that I love.

"We are still not complete, we are not aware in certain moments and departments, we have to be more clinical but my feeling is it is a question of time."

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