Barcelona star Lionel Messi has said that former boss Pep Guardiola will almost definitely receive a warm welcome at the Nou Camp when he returns for the first time with his Bayern Munich side on Wednesday night, the Daily Star reports.
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Messi will be reunited with his old manager during the first leg of the Champions League semi-final.
The game will mark Guardiola’s first trip back to the Nou Camp since leaving club back in 2012, and though star forward Messi believes the legend will receive a warm welcome it won’t last long once the whistle blows with a place in the Champions League final up for grabs.
“I would expect the crowd to cheer for Pep because he won everything while he was coach here,” Messi said.
“But once the match starts then the fans will cheer for us as normal.
“Guardiola knows us all very well and we were fortunate enough to win lots of titles under him.
“I haven’t kept in touch regularly with Pep since he left. I had a great relationship with him when he was here though.
“What I achieved with Guardiola was brilliant. I grew and learnt a lot and I still want to grow and learn about football.”
Barcelona will very much have revenge on their mind after Bayern dumped the Catalans out of the competition at the same stage in 2013.
However, Guardiola was not involved in that game, he will undoubtedly not hesitate to rack up a similar scoreline.