Real Madrid have been recognised as the Best Club in the men's category. After a season in which they won the League and the Champions League, the Merengue club broke the hegemony of Manchester City, winner of the two previous editions, and will add this new award to their trophy cabinet.
Carlo Ancelotti's team beat City (Premier League champions), Borussia Dortmund (Champions League finalists), Bayer Leverkusen (Bundesliga winners) and the surprising Girona, who made it onto the list of candidates after establishing themselves as the great revelation of last season.
The Madrid delegation was absent from the gala
However, the award was not collected by anyone after the Madrid delegation decided not to travel to Paris after learning of Vinicius Jr.'s defeat at the hands of Rodri Hernández, the new winner of the Ballon d'Or.
The organizers of the gala broadcast a video of barely a minute in length and did not play the Real Madrid anthem, something they did when Barcelona was awarded the award for best women's club, and went straight to the next award, generating a moment of 'tension' after the club's historic snub.