The 2024 Ballon d’Or ceremony that took place on Sunday night will go down in football history as one of the most controversial ones. Contrary to popular belief, Rodri came out on top of Vinicius Jr in the race to lift the biggest individual award in Football. This has made the world of football go into utter chaos with many standing against that decision while others stand with it. And the after-effects of it can still be felt quite evidently in the footballing world. Recently, Rodri’s coach at club level, Pep Guardiola made a very straightforwardly shocking statement to the press about Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi that has made fans go into a frenzy.
Arguably two of the Greatest ever football players, the Messi-Ronaldo debate has been and will always continue to be a topic of discussion. Together over the last 15-20 years, they have ruled over the footballing world and hence clinched numerous titles and awards. One such individual award is the Ballon d’Or. The Portuguese and the Argentinian shared 13 Ballon d’Ors between them since 2008, and have been the pioneers of World Football during this time. Messi has 8 to his name while Ronaldo has 5.
And obviously like in any other debate, there are people who have biases and choose sides. Pep Guardiola who was previously Messi’s coach at FC Barcelona has time and again claimed that Messi is the best player in history and no one comes close. Now again, after Rodri’s Ballon d’Or win, Pep Guardiola was asked a question regarding his current CDM at Manchester City’s triumph in Paris. Pep made a point that there were probably many others who deserved this award but couldn’t win since they lived in the Messi-Ronaldo era, taking names like Xavi and Iniesta and how Rodri’s victory meant a lot more to Spanish football in general.
Pep Guardiola stated, “Xavi and Iniesta could not win because he was a monster there, Messi. Nobody could beat him. Just Cristiano, you know. Cristiano was a monster and the father of the monster is Messi, and both you know have done something incredible in the last 20 years.” Pep further continued, “I would say 15-20 years. And maybe in that moment Xavi and Iniesta deserved it as well. So I think Rodri yesterday, you know, got what the Spanish football deserves Worldwide.”
Do you agree with Pep Guardiola’s views? Let us know in the comments below.
