Pep Guardiola Says Lionel Messi and Johan Cruyff Would Have Had Problems Working Together

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola reckons Lionel Messi and Johan Cruyff would have had a bit of conflict if they had ever worked together.

Guardiola and Messi won 14 trophies together at Barcelona, with the club going through one of the best periods in their long history under the now City manager. Yet he believes that based on the brilliance and intelligence of both Messi and Cruyff, the pair wouldn't always see eye to eye.

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"Surely there would have been a conflict between them," he said during an event hosted by I Acto de Homenaje Amigos de Johan (via Marca).

"[It would be] a conflict that we would have experienced for a while, but then they would have found each other, because the two are very intelligent.

"With Johan managing as coach and the abilities of Messi they would have won [many things] for sure."

Guardiola has never hidden his absolute admiration for the deceased Cruyff, who he says is his idol. And he revealed that he still looks to him for advice, so to speak.

"When I have some problems with a player, the media or my technical team, I think what he would have done," he claimed.

"It's impossible to guess, but I like to play that game, because he was the only one to solve those kind of things."

Since leaving Barca, Guardiola has gone on to manage at Bayern Munich and City.

His first spell at the Etihad was a trophyless one, but the team now look ready to win the Premier League title under the Spanish tactician