Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has unequivocally declared Lionel Messi as the greatest footballer of all time, settling the long-standing debate between Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Guardiola, who coached Messi at Barcelona from 2008 to 2012, winning three La Liga titles and two Champions League trophies together, believes the Argentine’s incredible achievements make him the undisputed GOAT.
“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 won the 2022 FIFA World Cup with Argentina.
“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.”
Messi scored an astonishing 221 goals in 219 games under Guardiola’s tutelage at Barcelona, transforming into the best player in the world as a false nine.
This period they have coincided with Messi and Ronaldo’s intense rivalry as the two legends pushed each other to new heights.
While many football icons like Sir Alex Ferguson and Zinedine Zidane have favored Ronaldo, Guardiola’s close relationship with Messi and his intimate knowledge of the player’s brilliance have led him to side with the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner firmly.
“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.”
Guardiola’s definitive stance on the Messi vs Ronaldo debate comes as no surprise given his history with the Argentine maestro. The Spaniard even went as far as to say, “The most incredible forward that has ever seen is Messi. I never saw something like that.”
While the debate will likely rage on among fans and pundits, Pep Guardiola has made his position crystal clear – Lionel Messi is the undisputed GOAT of football.
