Monday night saw a Manchester City star Rodri honoured as the world’s best footballer in Paris, triumphing over an array of elite talent.
This result sparked considerable frustration among those supporting Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr. as both Real Madrid and Nike cancelled planned celebrations in response to the Ballon d’Or outcome. The Madrid delegation also opted to skip the ceremony, underscoring their dissatisfaction.
In contrast, City’s representatives, including Ferran Soriano, Txiki Begiristain, Rodri, Ruben Dias, and Savinho, celebrated into the night in Paris before returning to Manchester by private flight on Tuesday morning.
Addressing the media on Tuesday, Guardiola not only praised his player’s success but also highlighted Spain’s influence on world football, which he believes has not been fully acknowledged.
“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.
Guardiola underscored Rodri’s win as a milestone for Spanish football, emphasising its significance in global football culture.
“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,” he added.
Reflecting on Messi’s career, Guardiola drew a remarkable analogy, describing Messi as the ‘father of the monster’ in the football world.
“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,” he explained.
Guardiola concluded, “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.”