Kroos, Courtois, Spain condemn Man City choice over Madrid as team of the year
City were awarded the team of the year while Madrid came in third – even behind Liverpool.
Real Madrid star Toni Kroos was left bewildered after Manchester City were crowned the team of the year at the Ballon d’Or awards, with the Spaniards finishing in third behind Liverpool.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side won their 14th Champions League title in May when they beat Liverpool in the final.
The La Liga giants beat Chelsea and City on the way to the final, while they also won the league title before their victory in Paris.
Karim Benzema was crowned the footballer of the year after his sensational campaign, while Thibaut Courtois was recognised as the best goalkeeper.
However, City were awarded the team of the year while Madrid came in third – even behind Liverpool.
The decision didn’t go down well with Kroos, with the six-time Champions League winner taking to Twitter to question City’s win.
The German clearly feels his side deserved the award but there was plenty of other cause for celebration for the Spaniards at the prestigious ceremony.
Benzema’s placement reflected the 44 goals in 46 appearances he scored last term.
The Frenchman scored 15 goals in 12 Champions League appearances, including a hat-trick against Chelsea in the quarter-finals and two against City in the semi-finals.
Also speaking to Sport after the award, Courtois was pleased to win the Yashin award but let out his frustration with the entire voting system.
“You win La Liga and you win the Champions League, your team wins thanks to your saves… and you only finish seventh.”
“In the top 10 there wasn’t even a single defender. At least this year they have invented the trophy for best goalkeeper.”
It is hard to argue too much against Courtois. The Belgian has a clear claim that he was as responsible for Real Madrid’s triumphs as Benzema, while he set records in the Champions League too, making more saves than anyone else. However it does reflect the fact that on the whole, football appears to value attacking players more.
Los Blancos tweeted out the two eyes emoji shortly after the award was announced, a non-explicit show of surprise.
It is fair to question the decision, given Real Madrid won their domestic competition and the Champions League.
The latter they did so in fairy-tale fashion, putting together a number of scarcely believable comebacks.
The reaction in Spain on the whole has been one of bewilderment. What exactly the criteria for the award was remains unclear.
