Pep Guardiola didn't hesitate when settling the GOAT debate between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo

Pep Guardiola did not hesitate when giving his thoughts on the GOAT debate involving Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Guardiola managed Messi at Barcelona between 2008 and 2012, winning three La Liga titles and two Champions League.

Messi scored a ridiculous 221 goals in 219 games under the Catalan's tutelage, transforming his game when he moved into a false nine role and becoming the best player in the world.

This period coincided with the intense, unmatched rivalry with Real Madrid and Ronaldo as the two went head to head.

For many, Messi's incredible World Cup triumph with Argentina in Qatar - where he completed football - confirmed his status as the best to ever play the game.

But for Guardiola, the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner has always been the greatest ahead of all the competition - including Ronaldo.

Image: Getty

"Everyone has an opinion but nobody can doubt that he [Lionel Messi] is there, with the greatest of all time," Guardiola said in a press conference after Messi became a world champion.

"For me, I said many times, he is the best.

“It would be difficult to understand that a player can compete with what he has done in the last 50 to 70 years.

“With the people who saw Pele or [Alfredo] Di Stefano or [Diego] Maradona, their opinions are often sentimental.

“If he [Messi] had not won the World Cup, my opinion about what he has done for world football, it wouldn't have changed absolutely anything. Of course, for him it's the final achievement of an incredible career."

Image: Getty

The 37-year-old was close to linking up with Guardiola again at Manchester City, with the two having an honest conversation at Messi's house.

A move didn't materialise however and he ended up staying with Barca for another season, before signing for Paris Saint-Germain on a free transfer.

Still, Guardiola holds Messi in the highest regard. When asked if goal machine Erling Haaland is "the most complete forward", he told beIN Sports: "The most incredible forward that has ever seen is Messi. I never saw something like that."