Pep Guardiola has been known to call Lionel Messi the finest footballer ever and the best he has seen. As he prepared for a reunion, he was less effusive about his protege. Guardiola’s words were that Messi’s football has done the talking over the course of an extraordinary footballing life.
“We were fortunate to see him during these 16 years,” Guardiola said. “Messi speaks for himself. We don’t have to describe him. What he has done in his career is more than exceptional.”
Those achievements include six Ballons d’Or, four Champions Leagues and 10 La Liga titles while scoring 672 goals for Barcelona. There is the chance that a first for Paris Saint-Germain will come at the expense of a mentor: Messi has missed PSG’s last two matches with a minor knee injury but is back in training and Guardiola said: “Hopefully he can play for the benefit of the game.”
It is nine years since they parted company but they remain indelibly associated. Each facilitated the other’s rise to greatness. Guardiola took over at Barcelona in 2008 and exiled Ronaldinho to build a team around the Argentinian. In four seasons, they won the Champions League twice and he scored 211 goals.
Guardiola had long said he thought Messi would finish his career at Camp Nou. There may be something incongruous in the sight of him in a PSG shirt on Tuesday. “For a long time, you could not imagine it,” the City manager said. “It was a little bit of a surprise for everyone but what happened, happened and now everyone has accepted it.”
PSG player ratings v Club Brugge
-
PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN PLAYER RATINGS: Keylor Navas, 7 - Arguably the reason his side got anything at all against an opponent they were expected to breeze past. Had no chance of stopping the equaliser, but he got down smartly to keep out Hans Vakanen’s low free-kick and deny the Club Brugge skipper his second, before producing a fabulous one-handed save to scoop away Charles De Ketelaere‘s effort. AFP -
Achraf Hakimi, 5 - Produced an important flick-on at the back post to preserve his side’s lead and thwart Vanaken who was lining up the spectacular, but he allowed Eduard Sobol to get in behind him and he squared for Vanaken to thunder home. A slightly nervous display from the PSG full-back. AFP -
Marquinhos, 6 - A much busier evening than he would have expected, and the 27-year-old was mightily fortunate to see a low cross evade Vanaken at the far post after nicking off the centre-back. Superbly denied the hosts the perfect start to the second half with a stunning block to thwart Jack Hendry. EPA -
Presnel Kimpembe, 6 - Showed strength to pin the Belgian side inside their own half as they looked for an escape on the counter, but he could only stick a leg out in front of Vanaken’s piledriver that cannoned off his leg and flew past Navas. Repelled a dangerous low-cross away to safety with two Brugge players waiting to pounce. AFP -
Abdou Diallo, 5 - A difficult night for the left-back who was put under constant pressure by the hosts’ press. Not quite given the torrid time that Hakimi was as Club Brugge opted to build down the left, but a difficult night nonetheless. Replaced by Nuno Mendes for the final 15 minutes. AFP -
Georginio Wijnaldum, 4 - The visitors were guilty of overplaying at times as their passing featured plenty of flicks but a lack of fluidity and Wijnaldum captured that perfectly when he opted to try and flick the ball over his head deep in PSG territory which allowed Club Brugge to easily nick the ball back. The former Liverpool favourite struggled to grab the game by the scruff of the neck in an uninspired display and was hauled off at half-time. AFP -
Leandro Paredes, 4 - Certainly in the thick of things in the opening 10 minutes and was nearly the architect of disaster when he allowed a simple pass from Kimpembe to roll under his studs before desperately clattering into De Ketelaere at the expense of a yellow card. A poor display that saw him subbed off at the break. Getty Images -
Ander Herrera, 8 - Almost unlocked the home defence for the first time with a threaded pass intended for the overlapping Hakimi, but the ball was well snuffed out by a disciplined home defence. He always looked the most likely to make something happen for his side in the early stages and his efforts were rewarded as he struck his first Champions League goal when he rifled into the bottom left corner. AP -
Kylian Mbappe, 7 - When Mbappe is around there’s always a chance of goals and the France star brilliantly chopped inside then outside before stroking the ball into the path of Herrera who fired the opener. Showed quick feet to glide away from his man once again but this time his fizzed, out-swinging cross curled away to safety before Simon Mignolet denied him with a fine save minutes later. Withdrawn in the 51st minute after picking up a knock. AFP -
Lionel Messi, 6 - Only a second appearance for the Argentine who completed a ferocious front three for the first time, but ferocious became feeble as the trio were isolated for large spells. He went close with a curling left-footed effort that cannoned back off the bar before stinging the palms of Mignolet midway through the second half and wasted a golden chance to break Club Brugge hearts when he picked out row Z late on. Getty Images -
Neymar, 6 - An illusive outing from the Brazilian who unpicked the home defence with a sensational lifted pass over the top, only for his teammate to miscontrol at the vital moment, and he offered little else. Getty Images -
Danilo Pereira (45'), 6 - Replaced Wijnaldum at the break following an indifferent display. Produced an important intervention to shepherd the ball out for a corner just before the hour-mark and his side were able to clear. Reuters -
Julian Draxler (45'), 5 - Replaced Paredes in a double-switch at the interval. He was unable to provide the attacking spark Mauricio Pochettino would have been hoping for as PSG continued to struggle against their tenacious and unrelenting hosts. Getty -
Mauro Icardi (51'), 6 - Replaced the roughed up Mbappe as the visitors were forced into their third change within six minutes of the restart. He looked certain to make it 2-1 just moments later, but the move was snuffed out by an exceptional piece of defending before a late offside flag went up. Came within inches of a winner inside the final 10 minutes with an improvised flick that flew just past the post. AP -
Nuno Mendes 75'), NR - Replaced Diallo for the final quarter-hour and probably did more attacking than any other PSG defender all night. A bright performance on the left-hand side from the teenager. AFP
Messi completes a star-studded front three in the French capital, linking up again with Neymar and joining Kylian Mbappe. Guardiola believes the two best sides he has faced as a manager are Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool and Luis Enrique’s Barcelona, when Messi was accompanied in attack by Luis Suarez and Neymar. “Both teams had exceptional players and good organisation,” Guardiola said.
If part of the challenge for PSG is to forge a similarly formidable unit and produce a team more than the sum of its remarkable parts, Guardiola said: “They are exceptional players. All of them are so good individually and they can combine and connect with each other. With this amount of quality I don’t know what we should do to stop them, to control this amount of talent is so difficult.”
Yet City only conceded once in 180 minutes of last season’s semi-final against PSG, albeit minus Messi, and head to France on the back of five consecutive Premier League clean sheets.
They prevented the Champions League winners Chelsea from recording a shot on target in their victory on Saturday and Guardiola argued: “The most important thing is how many chances we concede. We have to be compact, help each other and know we are going to suffer and have pain. Everyone puts their heart and spirit in for each other. That’s why we can defend well.”
An ability to “suffer for 90 minutes”, in Guardiola’s words, has underpinned City’s best results in the last year. He admitted that PSG were the better side in the opening period of the semi-final in Paris.
Resilience helped them stay in the game before Kevin de Bruyne inspired a second-half comeback. City will be without another talismanic midfielder for the rematch, with Ilkay Gundogan missing plus Sunday’s trip to Liverpool. But if their players lack Messi’s profile, they know they have match-winners. Riyad Mahrez, who was born in Paris, scored three semi-final goals against PSG. He reflected: “A good day for the team first and me as well.”
