Pep Guardiola was delighted Manchester City now boast the Ballon d’Or winner in Rodri

Pep Guardiola insists he has no issue with Real Madrid’s decision to snub last night’s Ballon d’Or ceremony which Manchester City’s Rodri crowned as the world’s best player.

City’s midfield linchpin, who played a lead role in Spain’s Euro 2024 triumph, beat the  Real trio of Vinicius Junior, Dani Carvajal and Jude Bellingham to the top honour, and that verdict from the 100-strong panel of voters led the delegation from the Spanish giants to stay at home.

As a result, there was nobody on hand to collect the men’s club of the year award, Carlo Ancelotti could not accept the men’s coach of the year award, and Kylian Mbappe was not there to take his share of the Gerd Muller trophy alongside Harry Kane.
The reigning Champions League holders had somewhat signalled Rodri’s success before the ceremony began as their delegation cancelled their trip to the French capital.

Rodri won the Men’s Ballon d’Or (Picture: Getty Images)

Vinicius Junior’s plane was ready to leave the airport (Picture: Getty)

Asked for his reaction to Real’s no-show, Guardiola remained coy and chose instead to focus on the pride he felt at seeing Rodri win such a prestigious award.

He said: ‘It’s up to them. If they want to congratulate, that’s fine. If not, that’s fine as well. At Manchester City, we ...