'Messi won the titles, not Guardiola' Pep's tactics slammed

Barcelona won two Champions Leagues under Pep Guardiola only because of Lionel Messi’s brilliance, as per ex-Bayern Munich boss Felix Magath.

Felix Magath has hit out at Guardiola, saying the Spaniard is overrated and is not special in any way.

The ex-Bayern boss claims Lionel Messi was the secret behind the Spaniard’s success at Barcelona. He also claims that his tactics will never see Manchester City win the Champions League.

Barca won their maiden treble of La Liga, Copa del Rey, and Champions League trophies in 2008-09. It was the first season Guardiola was in charge of the club.

They conquered Europe again two years later after a final victory over Manchester United. It marked one of the finest periods in the club’s history.

Guardiola, who left in 2012 after winning 14 major trophies, has been unable to win Europe’s premier club competition since.

He won a trio of Bundesliga titles with Bayern but suffered three consecutive semi-final defeats in the Champions League, to Real Madrid, Barca, and Atletico Madrid.

Similarly, Guardiola has enjoyed huge domestic success with Manchester City. So far, he has won two Premier League titles, one FA Cup, and three EFL Cups. However, he is yet to guide them beyond the quarter-finals in Europe.

And Magath says the City boss is not extra-ordinary and only won the Champions League because of Lionel Messi.

3 – Since progressing from his first seven Champions League quarter-finals as a manager with Barcelona and FC Bayern München, Pep Guardiola has been eliminated in each of his three appearances at this stage of the competition with Man City (17-18, 18-19 & 19-20). Crushing. #UCL pic.twitter.com/szeEW7qLWG
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) August 15, 2020

“Messi won the titles, not Guardiola,” Magath said as quoted by the Daily Star.

“Without Messi, this system has never worked as successfully for Guardiola, otherwise he would have won the Champions League with Bayern or Manchester City long ago.”

“Tiki-taka only works if you have players who are technically superior to their opponents. For the spectator, holding the ball, as I call it, is just boring and a top team doesn’t really need it.

“In my opinion, Guardiola generally too often gets lost in trying to win a game in advance. That tactic often ends in wrong decisions, which prevent success.”

This is surely a topic that would leave football fans debating for days to come and maybe even more than that. With one year left on his contract with City, Guardiola might have one last chance to prove Magath wrong.