Riyad Mahrez of Algeria and Bernando Silva of Portugal made the top ten list of the best footballers on the planet.
In a ritual that ended with Barcelona forward Lionel Messi being awarded as the best of the best, the two Manchester City couldn’t have made their club and respective countries prouder.
Before leading Algeria to the African Cup of Nations title, Mahrez also helped City snatch the Premier League title away from Liverpool and for a player that wasn’t known till he led Leicester to the greatest story of the decade, being considered to be among the top ten players is more than an honour.
After coming out of the shadows of the Spanish Silva, Bernando Silva has proven himself to be more than a useful piece for Guardiola’s weekly puzzle and the Portuguese can be said to be his country’s top man aside Cristiano Ronaldo.
After being around for a couple of seasons, making sub and cup appearances here and there, Bernando Silva came into full force last season. Guardiola allowed him to play from the left and whatever the Portuguese chose to do with the ball was fine by the Spaniard.
Mahrez who came from Leicester also struggled initially to fit into the front three. His integration took longer than normal but all through his slotting-in period, the Algerian still managed to score one or two important goals whenever he was handed a start or brought on as a substitute.
Only Aguero has been the untouchable attacker at city since then but the progress of Silva and Mahrez this season, despite not sitting atop the Premier League was not lost on all who voted for Monday’s soccer gala night.
The Citizens now sit third behind Liverpool and Leicester but everyone who knows them enough expect nothing more than a fight with Liverpool for the league title till the very end.