Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola 'in love' with THIS 'exceptional' PSG player

After Manchester City’s 0-2 loss against Paris Saint-Germain(PSG) during the UEFA Champions League(2021-22) match on September 2, City manager Pep Guardiola was seen praising an Italian midfielder in the french outfit. In a side that consists of legendary footballer Lionel Messi and stars like Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, Italian midfielder, Marco Veratti seemed to have earned Guardiola’s heart, as the manager was all praise for him during the post-match press conference. Veratti and PSG defeated Guardiola’s side by 2-0 as Idrissa Gueye scored for PSG in the opening 10 minutes, while Messi scored the second goal for the team in the 74th minute of the match.

Meanwhile, Guardiola termed Veratti as an exceptional player for creating extra passes behind the City midfielders. During the press conference, Guardiola said, “I am in love. He is an exceptional player because he is under pressure and has the calm to give one extra touch and at the moment, create extra passes behind our midfielder players. Yeah, I know the character personality that he has. He did it again and I am happy he is back”.

We did everything: Pep Guardiola

As mentioned on the official website of Manchester City, the 50-year-old manager also expressed himself on the other PSG players by saying that the quality of players PSG have, City had to minimize their game as Messi and Neymar took control of the ball. According to him, City had a good game as the players played with personality. However, he cited that the only missing piece from the puzzle was goals not being scored by City. In conclusion of his post-match press conference, Guardiola added, "They defended deep with seven players, and it’s always the risk if you lose the ball and they can make one pass with Verratti who is an exceptional player and they make contact with Neymar or Messi and run it’s always difficult".

The 28-year-old playmaker, Marco Veratti joined PSG in 2012 and has appeared for the club in 349 games so far. He has also found the goals on nine occasions for the team. Veratti has also appeared in 68 UEFA Champions League matches where he has found the goal thrice. He began his professional football career back in 2008, with Italian club Pescara and went on to become one of the best midfielders in Europe.

(Image: AP)