Manchester: Pep Guardiola categorically dismissed any sort of discussion or debates regarding Real Madrid’s boycott of the Ballon D’Or ceremony last year, saying that the subject is over and there is no bad blood between Manchester City and Real Madrid regarding the incident.  Ahead of the Champions League match against Real Madrid slated to be held on Tuesday, Guardiola drew a line under the controversy, hinting that City is not interested in raking up an unnecessary controversy over something which had happened in the past. 

 Madrid did not attend the gala ceremony in Paris in October when City midfielder Rodri was voted the best player in the world ahead of Brazil and Madrid forward Vinicius Junior.

Ahead of Tuesday's Champions League playoff between the rivals, Guardiola plays down the issue saying that the upcoming match is more important than discussing something occurred in the past. Asked if there were any hard feelings over Madrid's boycott, he said: "Absolutely not. “Vinicius make an extraordinary year as well (as Rodri). He deserves it. Like in the past when (Lionel) Messi and Cristiano (Ronaldo) were fighting for that. The subject is over.”

City defender Ruben Dias also avoided heightening tensions ahead of the first leg at the Etihad Stadium.“Being very honest with you, I didn’t spend one second thinking about if it was disrespectful or not. I was happy with Rodri. I was there. I was, I celebrated with him that night," he said.

The rivalry between City and Madrid has become one of the fiercest in the Champions League in recent years.This is the fourth season in a row that the two teams have gone head-to-head, with the winner on the last three occasions going on to lift the trophy.

Defending champion Madrid has added Kylian Mbappe to an already star-studded attack this season and the French World Cup winner has scored nine goals in his last eight games.Guardiola admitted it was unrealistic to expect City to be able to nullify Madrid's attacking threat, which also includes Jude Bellingham, Rodrygo and Endrick.“I think it’s impossible for 90 minutes, 180 minutes or 200 minutes — it depends on extra time — to control these four players,” he said. “They are exceptional.”

Madrid and 2023 champion City are only meeting now because they made such hard work of the competition’s new-look format. City went into the final round of games in the 36-team league phase needing to win just to secure the lifeline of a playoff.Madrid finished 11th, with the top eight automatically advancing to the round of 16.

“This season we struggled a lot,” Guardiola said. “Of course it would be good to continue for the club, for the prestige to win this competition.” | AP