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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
Jack Flintham

Lionel Messi makes Pep Guardiola admission as he explains what makes Man City boss so 'special'

Lionel Messi has hailed Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola as the "best coach" he has ever worked with.

Spearheaded by Messi, Guardiola enjoyed a hugely successful stint as Barcelona boss, winning the Champions League on two occasions and claiming three La Liga titles.

Guardiola won the La Liga Coach of the Year award four times during his spell at Barca, along with a whole host of other individual accolades. Messi was asked for his thoughts on his former boss and the Argentina star was full of praise for him, claiming managers all over the world have been inspired by his work.

ALSO READ: Guardiola may have got City contract clarity

"Pep is the best coach I’ve ever had," he 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 realise what we did, what that was." City's boss spent a year away from football after leaving Barca before joining Bayern Munich in 2013.

His three-year stay in Germany was not quite as successful as his time in Spain and he ended up leaving the Allianz Arena for the Etihad Stadium in 2016. Since then, Guardiola has won the Premier League four times, the League Cup four times and the FA Cup once, with the Champions League the only major honour he has yet to lift with the Blues.

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