The Argentine icon played under Guardiola for five years at Barcelona.
Lionel Messi has reflected on his spell under Pep Guardiola at Barcelona.
Following a highly successful career as a player, Guardiola started his managerial journey by taking charge at Barca in 2008.
In the next five years, the Spaniard became one of the most decorated coaches in the club’s history. Messi, of course, was central to Barcelona‘s success during that period.
The Argentina international started racking up Ballon d’Ors under Guardiola while enabling him to fully develop his managerial style at Barca.
“Pep is the best coach I’ve ever had,” Messi told Movistar.
“Everything he planned always ended up happening. He is special in the way he sees things, prepares for matches and communicates.
“Guardiola did a lot of harm to football too because it seemed too easy, so simple that everyone wanted to copy it. Later I found many ‘Guardiolas’ out there, and you realize what we did, what that was.”
Messi has won every major trophy available to him at least once, except for the World Cup.
Argentina arrive at the Qatar tournament on the back of a great run of form. But they will surely need Messi’s magic to win their first World Cup since 1986.
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