Pep Guardiola has been training a Ballon d’Or winner again since Monday evening. The day after, the Manchester City coach commented in detail on the big discussion surrounding the award ceremony.
Pep Guardiola would have liked to have talked mainly about the next game. Manchester City will face Tottenham Hotspur in the League Cup round of 16 on Wednesday. But of course, the Catalan had to talk mainly about the big topic of discussion from Monday.
His indispensable midfield strategist Rodri, who will miss the rest of the season due to a cruciate ligament rupture, won the Ballon d’Or. And not co-favorite Vinicius Junior, whom many bookmakers had long believed to be in the pole position.
“If Vinicius Junior had won, it would have been more than deserved, of course,” Guardiola admitted on Tuesday. “But last year it was the same with Erling Haaland when he didn’t win. He won the treble and scored more than 50 goals. I said to him: ‘You just have to be happy that you’re in’. I said the same to Rodri. If you’re in the top two, three or four, that’s something special. You have to be satisfied.”
Or at least be there? In any case, Real had boycotted the event and canceled the flight for 50 people on Monday afternoon. Guardiola’s telling comparison to Haaland last year: “He was there to congratulate Messi. Then you just have to try again next season. It’s all to play for and there will be more chances to win.”
The days when “monster” Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi (“the father of the monster”) dominated are finally over. And the fact that a Spaniard is winning this award for the first time is long overdue.
“Spanish football has achieved so much in the last ten or 15 years – they’ve won a World Cup and a European Championship. Their importance was enormous,” said Guardiola. ‘I remember once we had three players from La Masia in the top three places. But Xavi and Iniesta just couldn’t win because no one could beat Messi back then.’ That was in 2010. In the women’s game, three Barcelona players were on the podium that year.
Guardiola could only partially understand Real Madrid’s criticism of the selection: “Journalists vote, so it’s not an elite group of people. These are people from all over the world who vote, not just from one country. There are different opinions, and that’s what makes football beautiful, isn’t it?”
“People have to accept the results”
Guardiola, meanwhile, took the fact that the reigning Champions League winner did not congratulate ManCity after the vote in his stride. “It’s their business. If they want to congratulate, that’s fine. If not, that’s fine too,” said the 53-year-old.
Incidentally, Guardiola would not have voted for Carlo Ancelotti as winner among coaches. “I congratulate Carlo on winning the award for best coach in the world, but it was Gian Piero Gasperini or Luis de la Fuente.” One sensationally won the Europa League with Atalanta Bergamo, the other the European Championship with Spain.
“But Carlo deserves it too. People have to accept the results. We as a club are just very happy that Rodri is the first player in ManCity’s history to receive this award. It’s like winning the Premier League and the Champions League.”
