Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said midfielder Rodri’s Ballon d’Or win is something Spanish football has deserved for a long time. Rodri edged out Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr. to the coveted award in Paris on Monday. He is the first Spaniard since 1960 to have won the Ballon d’Or.
Rodri played an integral role in Spain winning Euro 2024. It was the first time the country won the title since 2012, with the latter being the last of the titles that a dominant generation of the Spanish team had won. Guardiola said that the likes of Xavi and Andres Iniesta, who formed the heart of that side, couldn’t win the Ballon d’Or at the time only because they were competing with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
“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, who earned nearly 50 caps for Spain in his playing days, told the media.
“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.”
Before helping Spain to the title in the European Championships, Rodri played an integral role in Manchester City winning a record 4th consecutive Premier League title.
Guardiola said that while he is proud as City manager, Rodri’s win represents Spanish football’s success perfectly. “And 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. 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 said.
Messi, whose initial years of success was as part of Guardiola’s world-beating Barcelona side, and Ronaldo have dominated the Ballon d’Or since 2008. Messi has won the title five times, with the most recent being in 2023, while Ronaldo has won it five times. The previous best before either of them was three titles won by Michel Platini, Johan Cruuyff and Marco Van Basten. It was either Messi or Ronaldo who won the award between 2008 and 2017, with Luka Modric breaking that run in 2018. Messi has gone onon to win the Ballon d’Or thrice since then in 2019, 2021 and 2023.