Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola insists it will be tough to mark PSG’S star striker tonight because even the player himself does not know what he’s going to do next with the ball at his feet
PSG’s Lionel Messi. Pic/Getty Images
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola insists he will not be instructing his players on how to tackle Paris Saint-Germain’s star striker Lionel Messi in tonight’s big ticket UEFA Champions League Group A clash here.
City can secure a place in the Last 16 with just a point, while victory over the star-studded French side will guarantee the Englishmen the top spot in
the group.
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Man City boss Guardiola
“It’s so difficult. Sometimes when he [Messi] has the ball, he doesn’t know what he’s going to do, so imagine you have to know what he is going to do. There are players, who you can say if they will go right or left, but when he has the ball, even he does not know exactly what he’s going to do,” said Guardiola, who knows the mercurial Argentine better than most managers in the world, having witnessed his genius at Barcelona not too long ago.
Guardiola believe there is no method or process to restrict or stop the Argentine super star. “I cannot tell my players what he [Messi] will do, but this also happens with Neymar and [Kylian] Mbappe or [Angel] Di Maria. Every player could be a complete star in any team around the world, and all four are in the same team,” added Guardiola, obviously aware of the threat posed by the star-studded PSG.
‘Happy for Leo’
Messi, however, holds a special place for Guardiola and that’s the reason he’s simply happy to see the champion thriving away from Barcelona, where he spent his entire career this far. “But I am still glad and happy that he [Messi] is still playing, at the level he plays and with the quality, so it will be nice to face him,” he added.
Pochettino, a top coach
Meanwhile, PSG boss Mauricio Pochettino has been linked to the vacant managerial position at Manchester United following Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s sacking on Sunday. And as Pochettino is on course to winning the first league title of his managerial career with PSG, who are currently 11 points clear at the top of Ligue 1, Guardiola felt that his record of not winning trophies at Espanyol, Southampton and Tottenham should not be held against him. “You can be a top manager and still not win titles. It’s not necessary to win titles,” said Guardiola.
123
No. of career goals PSG’s Lionel Messi has scored in the UEFA Champions League
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