Coach Pep Guardiola admitted that his student Erling Haaland cannot beat Lionel Messi if the Golden Ball title is only given to one player.

“The Golden Ball should have two categories, one for Messi and one for the rest,” Guardiola said on October 20 at a press conference before the match against Brighton in round nine of the Premier League. “Messi’s worst season is the best season for the rest of the players.”

However, Man City coach believes that both Haaland and Messi’s students deserve to win the 2023 Golden Ball. He added: “Haaland scored many important goals to help Man City win the treble, but Messi won the championship.” World Cup. But it’s great to have a Man City player competing for this title for the first time in many years. That makes us very proud.”

Previously, in an interview with Spanish radio station COPE earlier this week, Rodri had similar shares. The Spanish midfielder praised teammate Haaland for his great contribution in helping Man City win the historic treble, but said that Messi will win the 2023 Golden Ball. “I think Messi will win this award. Haaland is also an important player. important and made great contributions,” he expressed.

According to bookmaker Bet365, Messi is currently the number one candidate to win the Golden Ball this year, with a winning rate of 1/10 (bet 10 to 1). Meanwhile, Haaland is ranked second with odds of 9/2, Rodri is ranked third with odds of 40/1, Kevin De Bruyne and Vinicius are ranked fourth with odds of 50/1, and Kylian Mbappe is ranked sixth with odds of 40/1. ratio 66/1.

At the club level, Messi did not play too prominently with 21 goals and 20 assists in 41 matches in all competitions with PSG. But he flourished at the team level, scoring seven goals, including a double in the final against France, helping Argentina win the 2022 World Cup. The 36-year-old striker was also awarded the World Cup Golden Ball – an award by FIFA. best player of the tournament at Qatar 2022, and won the best player of the match award five times.

Messi’s strongest opponent is Haaland – who did not attend the World Cup, but had great success at the club level. In the 2022-2023 season, the Norwegian striker scored 52 goals in 53 matches, winning the treble of Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup. He won all individual titles, including Best Player and Outstanding Young Player of the Premier League 2022-2023, awarded by the tournament organizers, Best Player in English Football this season by the Football Journalists Association. England (FWA) and the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) voted, Champions League top scorer, European Golden Shoe but did not join the Norwegian team to win tickets to the 2022 World Cup.

If he continues to be honored by France Football magazine, Messi will become the first player to win the Golden Ball while playing for a club outside Europe. In the summer of 2023, the Argentine star joined Inter Miami on a free transfer, contributing 11 goals and five assists in 13 matches, helping the club win the Leagues Cup but could not qualify for the play-off round to compete for the MLS championship.

Rodri also appeared in 30 nominations for the 2023 Golden Ball announced by French magazine France Football on September 6. The Spanish midfielder has an irreplaceable position in the Man City squad, having four goals and seven assists in 56 matches last season. In particular, he scored important goals to help Man City win the Champions League for the first time, including the curling shot to open the score in the 3-0 win over Bayern in the first leg of the quarterfinals and scoring the only goal in the final victory over Inter. Milan. Coach Pep Guardiola also repeatedly praised Rodri as the best holding midfielder in the world.

However, the 27-year-old player admitted that he had no chance of winning the award because he did not receive the same media attention as other strong candidates, such as Haaland or Messi. “I know this is a highly commercial personal award,” Rodri expressed. “Compared to other candidates, I lack favor in the media, like Xavi or Andres Iniesta. I care more about the things I can control, which are collective titles.”

From 2022, France Football magazine changes the criteria, when the Golden Ball title is awarded based on achievements according to the most recent season, not the calendar year. This year’s awards ceremony will take place on October 30 in Paris, France.