Manchester City fans are gearing up for tonight’s Ballon d’Or ceremony in Paris.
There is excitement in the air at the moment, because reports have been suggesting that midfielder Rodri could pip Vinicius Junior to the 2024 award.
It had been expected that Vinicius would win the Ballon d’Or. But now there are claims that Vinicius and his camp are fearing a plot twist with Rodri now looking set to win. The Brazilian, nor anyone else from Real Madrid, will not even travel to the ceremony.
We will see what unfolds, but of course, there are a number of other awards that are being handed out tonight.
As always, there will be awards for the best Men’s and Women’s player, and awards for best goalkeeper (Yashin Trophy) and best young player (Kopa Trophy).
And of course, there will be an award for Men’s Coach of the Year, with Pep Guardiola among the nominees.
Man City boss Pep Guardiola set to miss out on Coach of the Year at Ballon d’Or ceremony
Manchester City fans are now optimistic that Rodri will become the next Ballon d’Or.
Rodri would certainly be a deserving winner of the Ballon d’Or for his incredible consistency for both club and country.
But what are the chances that his manager could win Coach of the Year? Seemingly, not too great.
As are reporting this afternoon that Guardiola will not be winning tonight’s award, and that it will instead go to Luis de La Fuente.
de La Fuente made headlines a few months ago when he guided Spain to Euro 2024 glory. His side were by far and away the best team in the tournament. they won every single game, scoring 15 and conceding four.
Other contenders in the category are Lionel Scaloni (Argentina), Carlo Ancelotti (Real Madrid), Xabi Alonso (Bayer Leverkusen) and Gian Piero Gasperini (Atalanta).
Pep never a likely winner this time around
As brilliant a year as Manchester City had, it was perhaps never likely that Guardiola would win Coach of the year this time around.
City ended up winning the Premier League in superb fashion, edging out Arsenal on the final day to win for the fourth year running – something which has never been done before.
Guardiola also oversaw wins in the UEFA Super Cup and the Club World Cup.
But he is held to higher standards than most, and he was always likely to struggle against de la Fuente, who has had a phenomenal impact on the national team.
Alonso was also likely ahead of him to win, given his incredible season with Leverkusen which saw them win the double and lose just one game all season.
