#1 Guardiola’s protégé comes back to haunt him again
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Pep Guardiola turned Barcelona into the greatest team of recent times as he led the Catalan side to their most successful period in the club's history between 2008 and 2012. And one man was at the centre of it all – Lionel Messi.
During his time at the helm, Guardiola credited Messi time and again for the heights the club reached. "Without him, we would be competitive," he said once. "But we wouldn't have achieved all that we have.”
And the Argentine was at his full prowess as Guardiola visited his former club with Manchester City. In a match that many expected to be a tight contest, Messi was at his imperious best, scoring a brilliant hat-trick as City were condemned to a 4-0 defeat.
The match also marked a return to Camp Nou for goalkeeper Claudio Bravo after he joined the English side this summer. But it turned out to be a disastrous evening for the Chilean as he received his marching orders early in the second period for handling a ball outside the area.
But the night belonged to the little magician, Messi as he weaved his spells around the City defenders helping his team to another victory.
