Ludovic Guily joined Barcelona from Monaco in 2004 as he became an integral part in Frank Rijkaard's Champions League winning team of 2006. In a recent interview, the French winger has shed light on Lionel Messi's prowess at the age of just 16. Guily's first season at Nou Camp coincided with Messi's debut campaign for the Catalans as the Argentinian played his first game for Barcelona in October 2004.
Frank Rijkaard often used to include academy players in the first team training as it helped the youngsters to develop by rubbing shoulders with established players. Lionel Messi was at that time, the most impressive talent from La Masia and often played a part training at the Mini Estadi.
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Guily has shared an incident when a 16-year-old Messi was training with the first team after a majority of players had gone on international duty.
He said, "Messi was only 16, but he destroyed us all in a training session. They were kicking him all over the place to avoid being ridiculed by this kid, but he didn't say anything. He just got up and kept on playing. Every play he made was dangerous.”
“It was incredible. He would dribble past four players and score a goal. Even the team's starting centre backs were nervous. They would go in hard on him, but he took it in. He was an alien. He killed us all. "
At that time, Guily was one of Europe's best wingers and played for Barcelona 85 times between 2004-2007. In his debut season, Guily played 29 matches for the Catalans and scored 11 goals in his first season. In 2004, Lionel Messi made right appearances for Barcelona and scored just one goal in his debut season as a 16-year-old.
Barcelona started their quest for their sixth Champions League title in fine fashion after thrashing Celtic 7-0 yesterday. Lionel Messi scored his first hat-trick of the season as he was joined by Luis Suarez, Neymar and Andres Iniesta as the other scorers.
Messi scored his sixth Champions League hat-trick as he broke yet another record of scoring the most hat tricks ever in Europe's elite competition. This victory will give a huge boost to the squad after they were shocked by newly promoted side Alaves 2-1 in the La Liga on Saturday.
