Neymar slams Man City star Rodri for comments on Vinicius Jr following controversy

Neymar has responded to comments made by Rodri following his Ballon d'Or win and supposed Vinicius Jr snub.

Manchester City midfielder Rodri was the winner of the Ballon d'Or this year. Vinicius Jr was widely tipped to win the award for the best football player in the world. After it had been leaked that he wouldn't be the winner, Real Madrid took strike against the ceremony with no players nor their manager appearing.

Rodri was a key figure in Spain's Euro 2024 victory during the summer. He also won the Premier League, UEFA Super Cup and Club World Cup with City. He did this all whilst continuing to be arguably Pep Guardiola's most important player. Following his individual accolade, the Spanish player took some time to give Vinicius Jr some advice.

He told Cadena SER: "I think he's an intelligent guy and he'll realise over time that the more he pays attention to the pitch, the better he'll be.

"Like everyone, he has areas for improvement both on and off the pitch, he's young. I'm sure that people will give him good advice and even more so when he's at Madrid. It's a club with values."

Although this looked like Rodri trying to give some helpful guidance to the 24-year-old winger, it wasn't taken that way by everyone. It was Vinicius Jr's Brazilian teammate Neymar who took to social media to hit back at the midfielder.

Instagram account futeousadia posted the quote: "Virou falador agora," which translates to: "He became a talker now."

The clear view from the ex-Barcelona forward was that Vinicius Jr should have won the award. The young winger did play a pivotal role in Real Madrid's treble win last season, and scored 24 goals in all competitions with 11 assists.

But understanding the power that Rodri has in one of the best football teams in the world is important. In the 34 Premier League games that Rodri played in last season for City, they lost zero.

Vinicius Jr won't have to contend with the Spanish midfielder this year. Rodri will be out for the season having picked up a ligament injury in his right knee.