"Coach Guardiola insisted that the Ballon d'Or should be divided into two areas for Lionel Messi and other players."
After the October A match break, Manchester City is set to face Brighton and Hove Albion in the ninth round of the 2023/24 Premier League at Etihad Stadium in Manchester, England, at 11 p.m. on the 21st. Guardiola, who attended a preliminary press conference on the 20th prior to the match, was asked about this year's Ballon d'Or winner as the 2023 Ballon d'Or awards ceremony was imminent. The Ballon d'Or, organized by French football media "France Football," will be held on October 30 local time. Coincidentally, all the players competing for the 2023 Ballon d'Or were students of Guardiola and could not avoid the question. This year's Ballon d'Or went into a two-way race between Lionel Messi, the "God of Football," and Erling Holan, the "Monster Striker." Last season, Holland showed remarkable growth under Guardiola and stood as the world's best striker. Last season, he scored 52 goals in all competitions, including 36 in the Premier League and 12 in the UEFA Champions League, making a monster performance. Thanks to the performance of Holan, who was the top scorer in two tournaments, Manchester City succeeded in winning Europe as it won the Premier League, FA Cup, and Champions League for the first time in the club's history. Holan, who continued his momentum in the 2023/24 season, Manchester City's second year, once again aimed at becoming the Premier League's top scorer by scoring eight goals, beating Son Heung-min (6 goals, Tottenham Hotspur) and Aleksander Isak (6 goals, Newcastle United). Messi, a favorite when Guardiola led Barcelona, also played well last season, scoring 21 goals and 20 assists in a total of 41 games for PSG (Paris Saint-Germain). His performance helped PSG win the league for the second consecutive year by placing PSG in the League 1 championship position last season. Compared to simple attack points and club titles, Messi may look shabby compared to Holland, but Messi has a tremendous advantage in winning the Ballon d'Or, "winning the World Cup." At the 2022 Qatar World Cup in November last year, Messi led his country to the top of the World Cup for the first time in 36 years with a tremendous performance in each game as the captain of the Argentine national soccer team. Messi also scored seven goals to win his first World Cup title in his life and won the Golden Ball given to the MVP of the tournament. Players who have been active in the World Cup will have an advantage in voting for the Ballon d'Or that year. Croatian legend Luka Modric (Real Madrid) also finished second at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, but was selected as the winner of the 2018 Ballon d'Or as he won the Golden Ball. As Messi and Holan locked horns over the Ballon d'Or, which is only given to one of the world's best footballers, Guardiola insisted that both players deserve the Ballon d'Or, joking that it should be divided into two. Guardiola said, "I always said Ballon d'Or should be divided into areas for Messi and zero for other players." As the best soccer player ever, Messi has won the Ballon d'Or seven times so far, becoming the most winner ever. "Holan should win the Ballon d'Or. "We won three gold medals because he scored 52 goals," he said. "Of course, Messi was the best among most of the players in the worst season." Both deserve the Ballon d'Or," he added. "Selfishly, I want to say that Holan has helped us achieve, so he should get the Ballon d'Or. "I'll like it," he said. "But I won't say it's unfair even if Messi wins the award," he said, insisting that he will admit whichever of the two players wins the Ballon d'Or.