Guardiola: Very good coaches don't win anything because they don't have players like Messi Barcelona Catalan also expects Xavi to coach Barcelona

A lot is made of Pep Guardiola's Champions League failures since leaving Barcelona, yet the Catalan coach has admitted that there are a lot of very good coaches who don't end up winning any trophies simply because they don't have players like Lionel Messi in their ranks.

Guardiola is yet to win the famous trophy without having Messi in his team, whilst Barcelona and the Argentina international have won just one Champions League since Guardiola departed.

"There are many very good coaches who have won nothing because they haven't had players like Messi," Guardiola explained in an interview with Catalunya Radio.

"There will never be a player equal to him; football belongs to the players.

"At Barcelona they gave me the first team, and I also had a great president [Joan Laporta]. There was a mix of experienced players and players like Messi. I have coached some amazing players."

One of the most memorable moments of his tenure at the Camp Nou was the introduction of Messi as a false nine prior to a Clasico, and Guardiola believes this was one of his great triumphs as a coach.

"There is not one player who doesn't think about defending at all, but you have to adapt to the qualities of your players," he added.

"When Barcelona played better it was with [Michael] Laudrup at false nine and then Messi.

"I tried it at Bayern Munich, but there wasn't a player who could dribble past three players and then score, so we had to look for alternatives."

Xavi Hernandez was one of Guardiola's most trusted players during his spell in charge with the Blaugrana, and the former midfielder is now coaching in Qatar with Al Sadd, with the Manchester City coach believing his former captain will soon coach his former club.

"Sooner or later it will happen," Guardiola confirmed.

"He is still very young, but it will happen. He understands football and has a lot of passion and dedication.

"He is brave and says things very clearly."

Frank Rijkaard must be given a lot of credit for setting up the blocks for Guardiola's great Barcelona team, although the introductions of Sergio Busquets, Pedro Rodriguez and Gerard Pique were masterstrokes by Guardiola.

"I had a great time, between matches there wasn't much time to enjoy, but during the process of building the team I saw that the changes worked and everything was flowing," he declared.

"I saw the behaviour amongst the players; the chemistry that grew and [also] their respect for the shirt.

"It was interesting to know how they distributed wages and everything was going well."