Pep Guardiola spoke about Lionel Messi winning the Ballon d’Or in previous years.
Guardiola coached Lionel Messi when he won the Ballon d’Or with FC Barcelona and he now coaches Rodri, the most recent winner of the Ballon d’Or. Speaking at a perss conference on Tuesday, here is what the Manchester City coach had to say about the trophy:
“I remember 3 La Masia players were nominated for the Ballon d’Or. Xavi and Iniesta could not win because Messi was a monster. Cristiano was a monster too and the father of the monster is Messi.”
🗣 Pep Guardiola on the Ballon d'Or: "I remember 3 La Masia players were nominated for the Ballon d'Or. Xavi and Iniesta could not win because Messi was a monster. Cristiano was a monster too and the father of the monster is Messi."pic.twitter.com/AWvTJ2cFes
— Roy Nemer (@RoyNemer) October 29, 2024
Licha is now being routinely asked to play a makeshift LB for ManU. He does OK in that role but plays pretty different from Acuna and Tagliafico, more like an inverted fullback, not providing width or overlapping but instead playing drifting inside, more centrally as an additional midfielder.