Pep Guardiola calls Lionel Messi unstoppable as Bayern Munich train at Nou Camp ahead of Champions League semi-final against Barcelona

Pep Guardiola declared Lionel Messi unstoppable on the eve of his reunion with the player he made so much history with.

'The way Messi is playing at the moment, there's no defence that can stop him,' Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola said at the Nou Camp ahead of Wednesday's Champions League semi-final first leg.

'It's impossible. You just have to defend as best you can but there is no defensive system and there is no coach that can stop him. You have to try to stop the supply, and the support, and you have to be close to him, but a talent that big is unstoppable.'

Pep Guardiola admitted there is no way to stop Lionel Messi ahead of their reunion on Wednesday

 

Guardiola will return to the Nou Camp on Wednesday for Bayern's Champions League tie against Barcelona
 

Messi in training for Barcelona on Tuesday at Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper in Sant Joan Despi

Guardiola and Messi achieved so much together with Barcelona but will be on opposite sides on Wednesday

Messi had earlier warned his old coach that once the homecoming fanfares had stopped his only intention would be to knock his former manager out of the competition.

'It's only normal that there will be some sort of tribute to Guardiola for everything that he was at this club and for everything that he won here but once the game starts all that ends,' said Messi.

The Argentine said he had only crossed paths with Guardiola once since the coach quit Barca in 2012 when the two were at the same FIFA Ballon d'Or gala. The coach's increasing inability to motivate his best player has been cited as one of the reasons why he felt it time to move on. Now he faces him more highly motivated than he has been at any time in recent years.

Pep Guardiola: I don't know how I will react if we win

+17

Bayern Munich trained at the Nou Camp on the eve of their Champions League semi-final first leg

+17

Guardiola, pictured overseeing a Bayern training session, won two Champions Leagues at Barcelona

Bayern Munich players are put through their paces at a training session at the Nou Camp on Tuesday evening

'What matters to me are the trophies that you win as a group not the individual honours,' Messi said. 'Last year we didn't win a trophy and we want to change that. The only thing on our minds now is to go through.

'It was a difficult year for me last year because I had injuries and when I came back I didn't feel the way I wanted to for all that I tried to get back to my best. It was a complicated year. Luckily, when I started this year, it was totally different and I feel very good.'

Messi admitted that the arrival of Luis Suarez and the formidable front three that the pair have formed with Neymar had made a difference.

'I have been lucky to play with some incredible playes, spectacular ones. But we're looking very good now, on and off the pitch. When you have players who are as good as Neymar and Suarez – two of the best forwards in the world it's easy. And we have a fantastic relationship off the pitch as well.'

Pep Guardiola: I'm here to get Bayern Munich to the final