Former Barcelona head coach Pep Guardiola has compared Lionel Messi with legendary Basketball player Michael Jordan. Jordan played an instrumental role in taking Chicago Bulls to six NBA rings during his glorious career and Messi also achieved incredible milestones while playing under Pep Guardiola for Blaugrana.
Messi played 219 matches under the tutelage of Pep Guardiola in which he scored 209 goals and also provided 94 assists. Thus, the Argentine striker ticked all the right boxes for Barcelona while playing under Pep Guardiola.
Pep told Ole (via BarcaUniversal): “What does Messi mean? Everything, everything, Messi is like Michael Jordan.”
He continued, “It’s like when Phil Jackson could feel that feeling that everything was flowing and there were no problems. I owe him a good bottle of wine to thank him for the contracts he allowed me to sign.”
Messi was at his absolute best as he netted 73 goals in 60 appearances in Pep Guardiola’s last season with Barca.
Barcelona had one of the most teams during that era as they had players like Andres Iniesta, Xavi and Carles Puyol, who provided great support to Messi. These players had a great understanding with themselves on the pitch and thus they got the desired results.
“We had an amazing group of players who helped him when we were together at Barcelona in those four years. There were a lot of stars at the right time and the right age for everyone, with Xavi, Carles Puyol and Andres Iniesta too.
“There was unique chemistry. Without Messi, we would still have won. But, would we have won so much? No, impossible.”
Meanwhile, Messi hasn’t been at his lethal best for PSG Saint Germain. He has scored seven goals and has provided 12 assists in 25 matches for the club. Furthermore, PSG was knocked out of the ongoing UEFA Champions League as they lost to Real Madrid by 3-2 on aggregate in the last of 16 match.
