Messi Vs Haaland: Pep Guardiola Comments On 2023 Ballon d’Or

The manager Manchester City, Pep Guardiola has been dragged into the debate of who deserves to win the 2023 Ballon d’Or between Lionel Messi and Erling Haaland.

During the pre-match press conference for the Premier League game between Manchester City and Brighton on Saturday, October 21, a journalist asked Pep Guardiola who he would vote for between Messi and Haaland.

In his reaction, Pep Guardiola first faked laughter before he attempted to answer the question. In his analysis of who should win the award, the Spanish tactician who coached Messi at Barcelona stressed that there should be a different Ballon d’Or for just the 36-year-old Argentine football icon.

Note that Messi has won the award for a record 7 times, two more than his career rival, Cristiano Ronaldo. The Argentine is expected to win this year’s edition of the prestigious award after winning the French Super Cup, and the French Ligue 1 with PSG in France and also helped Argentina to win the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

In the year under review, the 2022-2023 season, Lionel Messi scored 21 goals and provided 20 assists in 41 games in all competitions for PSG. He won the best player of the tournament in the last World Cup.

As for Erling Haaland, the 23-year-old Norwegian striker who joined Manchester City from Borussia Dortmund in the summer of 2022, scored a whopping 52 goals (the highest in Europe), and provided 9 assists in 53 games in all competitions for City. His effort helped City to win the treble – UEFA Champions League, Premier League, and the FA Cup.

Due to the performances of these two players last season, they are seen as the major contenders for the 2023 Ballon d’Or. But Pep Guardiola who agreed that Erling Haaland deserves to win the award, stressed that Lionel Messi is ahead of other footballers which could suggest that he is rooting for Messi.

Pep Guardiola said, “I always said that the Ballon d’Or had to be two sections. One for Messi and one for the others. Haaland should win yes or yes. We won the treble, he scored a million goals. I’d love Erling to win. But Messi… Leo won the World Cup!”.

The 2023 Ballon d’Or will take placed on October 30, 2023, in Paris, France which means that Messi could stage a return to Paris where he was booed until he left PSG and joined Major League Soccer’s Inter Miami during last summer transfer window.