A group of Manchester City fans will unveil a banner mocking Vinicius Jnr before their battle with Real Madrid after he was beaten to the Ballon d'Or by Rodri last year.

City host Los Blancos in the first leg of their blockbuster Champions League knockout play-off tie on Tuesday evening.

It will be the first time the two sides have met since Rodri scooped up football's highest individual honour, back in October.

The midfielder was honoured for helping City to a fourth straight league title, as well as being an integral member of Spain’s European Championship winning side.

There was controversy on the night as Real Madrid and their star Vinicius Jnr opted to boycott the ceremony after the Brazilian was snubbed.

We Are 1894, a Man City fan group, have revealed that they will display a banner picturing Rodri holding the Ballon d'Or alongside the words 'stop crying your heart out', five minutes before kick-off.

There is due to be a laser show, set up by the club, to build up suspense for the crunch match at 19:50 GMT.

Once that comes to and end, the banner will be dropped over block 115 and 116 in the South Stand next to the away section.

The supporters group broke the news on the social media app X to notify fellow City fans ahead of the game.

The words on the banner are the song title of Oasis hitsong Stop Crying Your Heart Out, released back in 2002.

The post summoned a reply from lead singer of the reunified band, and infamous Citizen, Liam Gallagher. The artist simply replied: 'SAUCEPOTS'.

The news of the Rodri's victory broke on the morning of the Ballon d'Or ceremony which led to Real Madrid and Vinicius deciding to pull the plug on their trip to the gala, held at the Theatre du Chatelet.

The Spanish giants had hoped that even if their Brazilian forward was not given the nod, right-back Dani Carvajal might be handed the gong after winning La Liga, the Champions League, and the Euros.

But when it was leaked that Rodri was, in fact, the winner, Real reacted furiously, and not a single club representative was there to watch their team win several honours at the event and their players place highly in the main list.

However, ahead of Madrid's fifth clash with City in just six years, boss Carlo Ancelotti stated that the club have no regreats over the way they conducted themselves.

'I don't think it was the wrong decision,' Ancelotti said. 'We thought Vini was the winner of the Ballon d'Or.

'It doesn't mean we don't respect Rodri because he is a fantastic player. I think Rodri deserved to win it the year before.

'I was happy for Rodri but Vinicius made an extraordinary year as well,' he said. 'He could deserve it, like in the past when [Lionel] Messi and Cristiano [Ronaldo] were fighting for it. So, the subject is over.'