Lionel Messi has revealed that he has hardly spoken to former Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola since the latter's departure from the Camp Nou in summer 2012.
Guardiola, the most successful Coach in Barca’s history with 14 trophies, takes his Bayern Munich team back to his old club on Tuesday night and Messi looked ahead to the Champions League semi-final first leg tie.
“We are all excited because this is a semi-final and Bayern are a brilliant team,” the Argentine told a Press conference.
“We were hurt when they knocked us out of the competition at this stage before but it’s a long time ago and things will be different now.
“Guardiola knows us well as he was here for a long time. We had a lot of great moments together and won a lot of trophies, but he knows most of the players and not just me.
“He even knows those who weren’t with the club then and studies everything. He leaves nothing to chance.
“It’s normal the fans will give him a good reception for what he did for this club and what he achieved. He gave Barca a lot. But once the whistle blows the supporters will get behind us, as they always do.
“Since he left we’ve hardly spoken and haven’t really seen each other, apart from a FIFA event, and we haven’t kept the relationship going.
“We had a good relationship but we’re not in contact,” admitted Messi, who said Bayern’s spate of injuries would be no excuse if they were knocked out, but felt neither side were favourites.
“We didn’t make it an excuse and it won’t be one for them. Barca and Bayern are massive clubs with great tradition and history and we both have a lot of depth in our squads. There will be no excuses. We are too big for that.
“I don’t know who the favourites are. At this level there aren’t any. This is a semi-final so it’s hard to talk of favourites,” he claimed.
