Pep Guardiola reveals how Erling Haaland reacted to Ballon d’Or vote

Erling Haaland, who many believed should have won the Ballon d’Or, was “really pleased,” according to Pep Guardiola, to finish second.

Haaland had a fantastic first season at the Etihad, helping him to achieve his goals of winning the Champions League and completing a historic Triple Crown with the Blues within a year of leaving Dortmund.

At this week’s coveted Ballon d’Or awards in Paris, his 52 goals were good for second place, but World Cup winner Lionel Messi beat him to the top spot.

In addition to finishing seven in the top 30 and five in the top ten overall, City also won the men’s club of the year award.

Guardiola hailed a big night for the club and suggested that Haaland can target the individual prize in future years if he can keep his performance levels up.

“I saw him so happy to be in contention close to Messi, [Kylian] Mbappe, and the rest,” he said. “It was a good night for Manchester City.

“Big congratulations for Messi and for the awards. Man City was there, it is so important for there because we have not been there many times.

“We were important there and he has all his career ahead of him so he has to see it as a challenge and think he can be there next year if he helps the team. I saw him really well when he came back.”

Guardiola also spoke about the impact of Jeremy Doku.

The young winger has scored three and assisted twice since signing from Rennes in the summer.

Guardiola said: ‘He is so young, he listens, he improves. He realises what we suggest and it carries out immediately.

‘His impact has been really really good. From the beginning, the bench, his impact has been massive.’