5 managers under whom Lionel Messi has made the most appearances

Lionel Messi is widely regarded as one of the best players to have graced the beautiful game.

During a stellar career for club and country, he has scored 759 goals, and won several big titles and individual accolades. The seven-time Ballon d'Or and eight-time Pichichi winner is the all-time top scorer for Barcelona (672 goals) and Argentina (80 goals).

The PSG attacker has had a slow start to life in Paris since joining the club last summer. Messi has netted only twice in 13 league games, but has dished out seven assists. In the Champions League this season, he has scored five times in as many games.

Over the years, the Copa America 2021 winner has played under a lot of world-class managers. On that note, here's a look at five managers under whom Messi has played most games for club and country:

Note: All stats are as per Transfermarkt unless mentioned otherwise.

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#5 Ronald Koeman - 47

Ronald Koeman managed Messi (left) in his lone season in charge of Barcelona.

Ronald Koeman managed Lionel Messi for only one season - 2020-21 - in what was also the Argentine superstar's last campaign at Barcelona.

After a slow start, Messi produced another stellar campaign, scoring 38 goals across competitions. That included three strikes in the Copa Del Rey, the only title Koeman won as manager at the Camp Nou.

Praising the Argentine for his level of dedication and professionalism, Koeman said:

"Lionel Messi has obscured everything. He was so good and he won. Of course he had good players around him, but he made the difference. Everyone seems better than they are because of him. This is not a criticism, but an observation."

The Dutchman continued about the PSG star:

"I knew how good he is, but it's still nice to see it up close every day. Everything you would like to teach a football player, in recognising situations, in taking the ball under pressure, in ball speed, in finishing; with Messi everything is a 10; not normal, not normal!"

He signed off by saying:

"When we did a finishing practice during training, there were sometimes players who started to hit easy balls, a bit of fooling around. But with Messi everything was: boom, boom, boom, boom. Never frills, everything functional. And always wanted to win everything."

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#4 Frank Rijkaard - 110

Frank Rijkaard (right) managed Messi in over 100 games.

Frank Rijkaard is one of only four managers to have managed Lionel Messi for over a hundred games.

After a difficult start to his Barcelona tenure in 2003-04, Rijkaard took the team to a top-two finish. The Blaugrana fared better in their next two campaigns. They won the league title in 2004-05 before completing the La Liga-Champions League double the following season.

It was Rijkaard who gave the then 17-year-old Messi his first-team debut in 2004-05. Soon, the Argentine became a first-team regular, and there would be no looking back from there. Messi has no qualms admitting that the Dutchman has had the biggest impact on his career, saying:

"I think the most important in my career was Rikjaard. If he hadn't trusted in me and not decided to put me in the first team first to train and then play my first match, maybe I wouldn't have made it to the first team."

Messi added:

"I always said that he was for me a very important person, because he trusted in me, put me in at the right time, picked me to play for the first team and that was very important for me."

By the time Rijkaard left at the end of the 2007-08 campaign, Lionel Messi was the crown jewel of the team, having contributed 42 goals to announce his arrival.

#3 Ernesto Valverde - 124

Ernesto Valverde managed Lionel Messi (in yellow) for over 100 games.

Ernesto Valverde had a fairly decent spell at Barcelona, thanks to the brilliant exploits of Lionel Messi.

In Valverde's two and a half seasons at the Camp Nou, Messi scored 70 league goals as the Blaugrana won consecutive La Liga titles (2017-18 and 2018-19). Overall, the Argentine conjured a staggering 112 goals and 51 assists across competitions under Valverde.

However, a poor start to the 2019-20 campaign saw the Spaniard relieved of his job. That didn't go down well with Messi, who took a thinly veiled jibe at Blaugrana's then sporting director Eric Abidal.

Lionel Messi felt Valverde was meted out unfair treatment. The Argentine said:

"I think everyone has to be responsible for their own jobs and take responsibility for their decisions... when you talk about players, you should give names because if not, you’re feeding things that people say and aren’t true."

As things turned out, Barcelona sacked Abidal the very next day they let go of Valverde.

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#2 Luis Enrique - 158

Enter captionLuis Enrique (right) had a fabulous spell in charge of Barcelona.

Luis Enrique is one of the best managers in Barcelona's history. He had a highly successful three-season stint at the Camp Nou, delivering the Blaugrana their second continental treble in his first season in charge.

Under Enrique, Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez formed one of the most lethal attacking triumvirates in football history, and wreaked havoc in Spain and Europe. Messi, in particular, contributed a staggering 153 goals and 76 assists in 158 games under Enrique. That includes 58 strikes and 31 assists in their treble-winning campaign in 2014-15.

The current Spain manager delivered a rich haul of nine titles, including two La Liga and one Champions League during his stay at the club.

Lauding Messi, Enrique later said:

"It’s impossible to carry the ball so close at that speed. Losing for Messi is very hard for him. You could see it the next day, after the match. In football, Leo Messi is a genius, clearly, just like Beethoven or Dali."

He added:

"Messi is a competitive machine. If at the beginning he had come up against a veteran who wasn’t Ronaldinho, who had been more selfish or more of an a*shole, he would have had more problems."

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#1 Pep Guardiola - 219

Enter captionEnter captionPep Guardiola (right) and Lionel Messi.

Pep Guardiola is widely regarded as one of the best managers in the game's history.

Taking charge of Barcelona in 2008 with no prior top-level management experience, he oversaw the most prosperous period in Blaugrana's history. It was under his tutelage that a certain Lionel Messi blossomed from a raw uncut diamond under Rijkaard to one of the best players to have graced the sport.

In Guardiola's four seasons in charge at the Camp Nou between 2008 and 2012, Barcelona won their first continental treble (2008-09) and two Champions League titles.

Messi was the crown jewel in Guardiola's star-studded Blaugrana team. The Argentine magician contributed a staggering 211 goals and 94 assists, including a record 73-goal tally in the 2011-12 campaign.

In a later interview, Lionel Messi waxed lyrical about the current Manchester City manager, saying:

"He (Guardiola) has something special about him. I don't know. He makes you see things in a certain way in terms of how he prepares for games, both defensively and going forward. He could tell you exactly how the match is going and how you have to attack to win."

It remains to be seen if the duo will reunite again before the Argentine great hangs his boots.