Barcelona, May 5 (IANS) FC Barcelona striker Lionel Messi revealed on Tuesday he hasn't spoken to Pep Guardiola since he left the Spanish side to coach German club Bayern Munich.
Guardiola left Barcelona after four trophy-filled seasons and took a sabbatical from coaching. He joined Bayern in 2013, reports Xinhua.
Barcelona face Bayern in the Champions League semi-final first leg match on Wednesday. The game has garnered extra interest because it is the first time Guardiola will face his former club after his departure.
Guardiola's time in charge saw Barcelona and Messi play perhaps their best ever football and claim 14 different trophies, but Messi assured that their relation had ended the day Guardiola left the club.
"Since Pep went, we haven't spoken," said Messi on Tuesday.
"I think we crossed paths in a FIFA gala, but apart from that we haven't had any relationship. We got on well when he was coach, but we haven't been in contact since then."
Messi said Guardiola, "knows us all well, he was with us for a long time and we went through a lot together and won a lot of titles. He knows all of the players who were here with him and those who weren't."
He warned Barcelona that Guardiola is a meticulous planner.
"Guardiola studies everything and leaves nothing to chance," added Messi.
But he didn't want to compare Guardiola with his current coach Luis Enrique.
"I don't do that because each of them has their own idea and their own way of preparing for games. One of them will ask for one thing and the other something different. You see differences and similarities, but they both try to be close to the players and maintain them happy," he said.
The striker was reluctant to say whether the attacking trio he forms alongside Neymar and Luis Suarez is the best in the world, and added that at this stage of the Champions League with such powerful team, it was impossible to say who was a clear favourite for the title.
