Xabi Alonso on Ballon d'Or: "I'm not on the jury, I don't have a vote" | OneFootball

Real Madrid's coach, Xabi Alonso, did not want to talk about the Ballon d'Or, which will be awarded in a ceremony this Monday, with Ousmane Dembélé, Lamine Yamal, and Raphinha as favorites, stating that he hasn't thought about it.

“Let's see what will happen. Yes, I watch a lot of football, but it's not my business, I'm not on the jury and I don't have to vote. We'll see after the ceremony who the award will go to,” Alonso said in a press conference.

The coach also preferred not to comment on the absence of Real Madrid representatives at the award ceremony.

“We have the game against Levante tomorrow and every game is very important. My mind is not on that, zero. It's only on Levante,” he continued, regarding his team's opponent for the 6th round of the Spanish Championship.

With some players upset about being substituted, Alonso recalled that he was also an athlete: “When I was substituted, it wasn't the best moment. I handle it with normalcy, naturally. I don't make a big deal out of it.”

Asked if he talked to Vinícius Júnior, who didn't like being taken off in the second half against Espanyol (2-0) last Saturday, the coach simply stated that “everyone was happy with the victory and the good form.”

“Everyone understands the role we want for the team, that it's necessary to contribute,” he concluded.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.