Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola admits that having Lionel Messi made his life easier as Barcelona coach.

The former Barca captain took on the coaching job at the club as his first major role as a manager in football.

He went on to win three La Liga titles, two Champions Leagues, and two Copa del Rey trophies, all with Messi at the heart of the team.

Guardiola told Ole: "What does Messi mean? Everything, everything, Messi is like Michael Jordan.

"It's like when Phil Jackson could feel that feeling that everything was flowing and there were no problems.

"I owe him a good bottle of wine to thank him for the contracts he allowed me to sign!

"We had an amazing group of players who helped him when we were together at Barcelona in those four years. There were a lot of stars at the right time and the right age for everyone, with Xavi, Carles Puyol and Andres Iniesta too.

"There was unique chemistry. Without Messi, we would still have won. But, would we have won so much? No, impossible."