Real Madrid Fans Left Furious After UEFA Snubs Vinicius Jr for Messi in Season Awards

• UEFA announced its final nominees for its Player of the Year award yesterday
• Vinicius Jr’s name was a notable omission
• Real Madrid fans have reacted to the omission of the Brazilian forward

UEFA’s surprise omission of Real Madrid’s Brazilian forward Vinicius Jr from its top ten Player of the Year nominees has surprised many Los Merengues fans.

The European Football governing body released a list of ten players, which was headlined by Manchester City attacker Erling Haaland, midfielder Kevin De Bruyne and, to the amazement of many, Lionel Messi as its top three best players have raised a lot of eyebrows after the 23-year-old forward’s name was not included in the list.

This reaction stems from the fact the Brazilian forward has only just recorded the best individual season of his career so far.

UEFA snubs Vinicius for Messi

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Vinicius was ranked 9th on the UEFA list of best players for the 2021/2022 season after recording 22 goals and 20 assists, improved on his stats recording 23 goals and 21 assists through the 2022/23 season per reports from Whoscored, guiding Real Madrid to the semi-final of the Champions League in the process. However, Messi, who has a topsy-turvy season at the French capital, made the top three shortlist after seeing his team eliminated from the competition by Bayern Munich in the Round of 16.

The final shortlist, per UEFA.com, which included Ilkay Gundogan, Rodri Hernandez, Kylian Mbappe, Luka Modric, Marcelo Brozovic, Declan Rice, Alexis Mac Allister and Jesus Navas, has been trailed by reactions by many fans and supporters of the young Brazilian.

Taking to Twitter, they aired their displeasure with UEFA:

@TotalCristiano said:

In 2021/22, Vinicius Jr got 22 goals and 20 assists including one assist vs PSG in R16, two assists vs Chelsea in QF, one goal & one assist vs Manchester City in SF and the winning UCL goal in the final vs Liverpool.

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He finished 9th in UEFA rankings.

They said it’s because Benzema was the main man.

2022/23, Vinicius got 23 goals and 21 assists including three goals and one assist vs Liverpool, two assists vs Chelsea and a goal vs Manchester City.

He is not even in the T10 of the UEFA rankings.

What’s the excuse this time?

@KiyanSo tweeted:

Vinicius Jr last season:

- Tied 1st in assists (with KDB) in UCL

- Tied 1st in G+A (with Haaland) in UCL

- 1st in UCL + top 5 leagues in successful take ons

- 1st in UCL in progressive carries

- 1st in UCL + top 5 leagues in carries into penalty area

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Chelsea star draws Vinicius comparison

Sports Brief in a previous report, stated that Mykhailo Mudryk has compared his poor stint at Chelsea with Vinicius Jr’s first year at Real Madrid.

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The Ukrainian has struggled in his early days at Chelsea, despite a bright debut cameo against Liverpool in January, and is yet to score an official goal for the club.

In an interview with Bombardir UA, the attacker said:

“My level? Look at Vinicius in his first season at Real Madrid, and look now. Players need time to show their level after moving from one country to another country,” he said.