Messi: Guardiola and Enrique my two most important coaches

Barcelona ace Lionel Messi has declared Pep Guardiola and Luis Enrique the two most influential players of his career.

The Barcelona captain highlighted what he learnt under the two coaches, making clear they helped him to improve as a player.

“Pep has something special. He makes you see things in one way: how he prepares for matches, defensively, how to attack… he told you exactly how the match was going to be, how you had to attack to win,” Messi told Jordi Evole during the interview.

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“I was lucky, in quotation marks, to train under Guardiola and Luis Enrique, the two best. Having them made me grow a lot physically and mentally, and also the tactical wisdom they’ve taught me.”

The 33-year-old opened up about his last few months at Barcelona, having handed in a transfer request via burofax last summer, but he is now focused on Barcelona as he enters the final six months of his contract.

“I’m fine today. It’s true that I had a very bad time in the summer,” Messi admitted in the interview.

“It came from before. What happened before the summer, the way the season ended, the burofax and all that… Then I dragged it with me a bit at the beginning of the season, but I’m fine today.

“I feel like seriously fighting for everything that’s ahead of us. I feel excited. I know that the club is going through a difficult time, at the club and team level, and everything around Barcelona is difficult, but I am looking forward to it.”