Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has seemingly settled the Cristiano Ronaldo versus Lionel Messi debate whilst reacting to the Ballon d’Or result this week.
Monday evening saw Manchester City see a player within their first-team squad crowned as the best footballer on the planet by winning the Ballon d’Or in Paris, defeating intense competition from across the game.
Such was the anger from the side supporting Vinicius Jr in pursuit of the Ballon d’Or trophy that the entire Real Madrid delegation cancelled their trip to the ceremony, with the player and sponsors Nike cancelling blockbuster planned celebrations in the process.
For Manchester City, their delegation featuring Ferran Soriano, Txiki Begiristain, Rodri, Ruben Dias, and Savinho partied late on into the night in the French capital before returning to Manchester via private flight on Tuesday morning.
Speaking to the media on Tuesday afternoon, Pep Guardiola reacted to Rodri’s success at the Ballon d’Or by reflecting on the impact of Spanish football in the game, and how the nation has perhaps not received enough recognition at this level for its impact on world football.
“I think Spanish football in the last decade made an incredible thing, with different national trainers, with incredible players in the past, with winning the World Cup, the Euros Cup, and never, never were able to win this award,” Guardiola said.
“And I think Rodri represents perfectly, of course City because we are so proud, but Spanish football – their influence in world football in the last 10, 15 years, it has been massively important.
“Not just winning trophies, the way they play, the generations of managers, generations of players. And I think maybe in that time I remember three players from the Barcelona Academy, La Masia, were nominated all three to win the Ballon d’Or, and Xavi and Iniesta could not win because there was a monster there.”
Guardiola continued, “And Messi, nobody could beat him. Just Cristiano [Ronaldo]. Cristiano was a monster, and the father of the monster is [Lionel] Messi. And both have done something incredible in the last 15, 20 years.
“And maybe in that moment, Xavi and Iniesta deserved the Ballon d’Or as well. So I think Rodri yesterday got what Spanish football deserved worldwide.”
