Lionel Messi explains why Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has 'harmed' football

Former Barcelona superstar, and now PSG forward, Lionel Messi has explained why he believes his former coach Pep Guardiola has 'harmed' football during the Catalan's managerial career.

During their time together at the Camp Nou, the aforementioned pair won a staggering 14 trophies.

Among the haul of silverware also included two Champions League triumphs, in which Lionel Messi played a starring role in the successes under Pep Guardiola.

There was widespread speculation that the pair could be reunited at Manchester City two years ago, however no such move came to fruition.

Instead, despite their financial difficulties and presidential issues at the time, Lionel Messi remained at the club that saw him become so great, before completing a shock move to PSG the following summer.

Now, the Argentina international has been full of praise for his former mentor once again, as he gears up for yet another showing at the FIFA World Cup.

Speaking during a recent interview, as translated and relayed by ESPN, the Argentine football legend joked about his former coach Guardiola doing plenty of 'harm' to the game through his dominance of the sport.

Lionel Messi said, "(Pep) Guardiola did football a lot of harm because he made it look so easy and so simple that everyone wanted to copy him.

Whilst smiling, he continued, "Later I found many 'Guardiolas' out there and you realise what we did and what that was."

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The pair had a hugely successful time together at FC Barcelona, and Guardiola's coaching and leadership is often credited as being the reason behind the rapid development of Lionel Messi to the very top of the sport.

When asked whether the current Manchester City manager is the best coach he has ever had during his career, there was no hesitation from Messi.

The Paris Saint-Germain forward continued, "Without a doubt (he's the best coach I've ever had in my career).

"He has something special, above all how he watched and prepared for matches and how he communicates, because of how he transmitted it to you."

Pep Guardiola

There remains a chance that Lionel Messi and Pep Guardiola could go head to head in the Champions League this season.

Both sides progressed to the last-16 of the tournament, however PSG only booked their place via a second-place group stage finish.

Subsequently, the Ligue 1 giants have a double-header against Bayern Munich to contend with in the next round.

As for Manchester City, they take on RB Leipzig across two legs starting with an away trip to Germany in late February.