Pep's mild Real rebuke
Manchester City midfielder Rodri at the Ballon D'Or ceremony
- Published
It is fair to say Manchester City feel Real Madrid's Ballon d'Or no-show does not reflect well on the Spanish giants.
They did have a legitimate claim on the award. Even City boss Pep Guardiola admitted Vinicius Jr would have been a worthy winner.
However, while he said it did not matter that Real failed to turn up - even though Carlo Ancelotti beat Guardiola to the coach of the year prize and, in Vinicius Jr and Jude Bellingham, they had the second and third players for the main award - there was a bit of a rebuke in there.
Guardiola reminded everyone that Erling Haaland was overlooked for the 2023 award in favour of Lionel Messi, even though City won the Treble and the Norwegian scored an incredible 52 goals.
"If you are in the first two or three, it's exceptional," said Guardiola. "It means you have done an incredible year and you have to be so satisfied."