Pep Guardiola says he will not give his Manchester City players a blueprint on how to deal with Lionel Messi when they face Paris St Germain tomorrow.
The Blues need just a point from their two remaining group games to reach the knockout phase, and a win would ensure they finish top of the group, despite losing to the French side in Paris last month.
Guardiola knows Messi better than any other manager, having harnessed his genius as the driving force behind his all-conquering Barcelona team a decade ago.
But he says there is no formula for coping with the little Argentinian wizard, as it’s a case of trying to predict the unpredictable.
“It’s so difficult. Sometimes when he has the ball he doesn’t know what he’s going to do - so imagine you have to know what he is going to do,” said Guardiola.
“There are players who you can say if they will go right or left. When he has the ball, not even he knows exactly what he is going to do.”
But City face a PSG team packed with talent, and that air of unpredictability is shared by three more of their attacking players, warns Guardiola.
“I cannot tell the players what he (Messi) will do, but hey, it happens with Neymar and (Kylian) Mbappe, with (Angel) Di Maria, with all the players up front in this team.
“Every player could be a complete star in any team around the world, and all four are in the same team.
“But I am still glad and happy that he is still playing, at the level he plays and with the quality, so it will be nice to face him.”
