Pep Guardiola (R) and Lionel Messi when they were at Barcelona. Photo by Reuters |
On Oct. 29, one day after Spanish midfielder Rodri won the Ballon d’Or in Paris, Guardiola addressed his player’s victory in an interview with the press, as Man City were preparing to play Tottenham in League Cup.
He took this chance to praise the underrated impact of Spanish players in 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.
The renowned Spanish manager also gave his take on the GOAT debate between Ronaldo and Messi.
“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.
“And Messi, nobody could beat him. Just Cristiano. Cristiano was a monster, and the father of the monster is Messi. And both have done something incredible in the last 15 or 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.”
Guardiola, 53, managed Barcelona from 2008-12, with Messi, Xavi and Iniesta in the squad. In his first season, he led the club to an astounding continental treble of La Liga, Champions League and Copa Del Rey. After winning another La Liga and Champions League double in the 2010-11 season, he left Barcelona in 2012 with 14 titles, a record of the club.
After managing Bayern Munich from 2013-16 to great success but failing to win another Champions League, Guardiola moved to Man City, his current club, where he won six Premier League titles and the second continental treble in the 2022-23 season, becoming the only manager to do so.
Messi holds the record for eight Ballon d’Or, while Ronaldo came second with five. The two superstars dominated the award for 10 consecutive years, from 2008 to 2017, each winning five times. Since then, Messi has won three more awards, while Ronaldo has been absent from the top 3 in the last four editions.
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