After Cristiano Ronaldo once again failed show up for the Ballon d'Or gala, his rival for the Golden Ball Virgil van Dijk jokingly trolled the Juventus superstar on the red carpet.
Click through the gallery above to see some images from the latest Ballon d'Or ceremony!
Many of football's superstars attended the ceremony in Paris, but Ronaldo once again snubbed the event, having failed to attend last year too.
Van Dijk, though, was at the illustrious gala, and was asked about Ronaldo's no-show on the red carpet ahead of the main event.
"Cristiano won't be here, so that's already one rival less," a reporter said, to which the Dutchman responded with: "Was he a rival then?"
His quotes quickly went viral but were seemingly misunderstood, and the Dutchman felt the need to explain himself later that night after TV host Piers Morgan commented on his bold statement.
Hi Piers, If you don’t jump on the social media bandwagon and would listen to the whole interview then you would know I made a joke, and only got respect for those 2 ??
— Virgil van Dijk (@VirgilvDijk) December 2, 2019
Read: Messi Wins Record-Breaking 6th Ballon d'Or, CR7 Snubs Awards
Lionel Messi, meanwhile, picked up his sixth Golden Ball, becoming the first player in history to do so.
Do you think Ronaldo's failure to attend galas when he does not win is disrespectful to his colleagues? Have your say in the comments section below.
