Watch it if ‘X-ray’ Messi goes walkabout, warns Guardiola
PEP GUARDIOLA will hope his Manchester City players will have learned their lesson about “X-ray” Lionel Messi when the Argentine superstar bids to extend his incredible scoring record against English clubs at the Etihad Stadium tomorrow.
Messi’s hat-trick against City in Barca’s 4-0 win at the Nou Camp 10 days ago took his tally against Premier League teams to 16 goals in 15 matches.
Guardiola knows him well from his time as Barcelona manager and regards Messi, pictured, at his most dangerous when he’s almost standing still.
“Messi spends the match making a mental X-ray of every space, every moment,” says Guardiola.
“It looks like he’s walking. And it seems like he’s alone, detached. Or when he sees the defenders are watching him, he’ll wander off into a space of his own.
“It looks like he’s just ambling around and maybe he’s the guy who runs least in the Spanish league but, boy, when that ball reaches him he knows the complete time-space X-ray of who’s where. Then . . . pow!”
He used to joke in Spain that his job was to make sure the team gave the ball to Messi when he needed it and then Messi would score. The City manager admits, in a newly-published book Pep Evolution, that he will never have another player quite like Messi.
Even so, he reveals to author Marti Perarnau that any signings he makes have to share some of Messi’s attributes. “My first question is always, ‘Can this guy dribble?’ I only want players who have that skill so that’s always what I look at,” he says.
“I want full-backs and central defenders and midfielders and inside forwards and wingers who can dribble. Because you can learn control and good passing. So, yeah, dribbling, that’s the key.
“I like wingers in general – not just classical wingers but those who master making diagonal runs. The classic Barca winger has always had the inside-to-out run totally mastered. But I also want my wingers to generate the outside-to-in runs: It’s why we signed David Villa.”
After picking up just one point from their last two Champions League matches against Celtic and Barcelona, City need to pick up some kind of result against the Spanish champions, with only the top two in the group progressing to the knockout stages.
Borussia Monchengladbach could leapfrog City into second if they beat Celtic at home and City fail to beat Barca, with City still having to play Gladbach in Germany.
Arsene Wenger says he could pair Alexis Sanchez and Olivier Giroud in attack after they netted a brace apiece against Sunderland.
Giroud has had to make do with four substitute appearances this season, and Saturday's goals at Sunderland were his first in the Premier League. But Wenger hailed his match-turning frontman and said there was no reason why he and Sanchez could not play together. – Daily Mail
Tomorrow’s Champions League fixtures
Besiktas v Napoli, FC Basel v PSG, Manchester City v Barcelona, Atletico Madrid v FC Rostov, Ludogorets v Arsenal, Borussia Monchengladbach v Celtic, Benfica v Dynamo Kyiv, PSV Eindhoven v Bayern Munich