Bayern Munich boss Pep
Guardiola has warned his
players that they have no
chance of stoppiong Lionel
Messi if the Barcelona star
is in the mood.
The 44-year-old coached the Argentine at Camp
Nou for four years and enjoyed great success by
moving him from the flank to a central attacking
role.
The former Spain international will return to the
club he represented as player and coach in the
Champions League semi-finals on Wednesday and
is worried about the impact his old charge could
have.
"If Messi is in top form, no defence can stop him,"
Guardiola said at a press conference.
"There is no system to stop Messi. He's too good.
You just have to try to limit him in another way -
stop the ball reaching him, but even then, you
can't stop him."
However, Guardiola was also keen to stress that
focusing on only Messi could prove to be the
undoing of his troops.
"It's very difficult to find any weaknesses with
talent like this," he added.
"We're going to try to perform as well as we can.
We're going to try to better than we usually are.
You know the level of respect I have for these
players and for Barcelona.
"I think that they have the advantage because I
know them but when you think you might know
what these players are going to do they do
something different.
"I know that from a defensive standpoint it's really
impossible to stop them. We can't stop them." GOAL.COM