The day Messi requested to join Man City to Guardiola

It seems that the impact of Barcelona's 2-8 defeat against Bayern Munich in the 2020 UEFA Champions League was extremely significant, to the extent that it became a major motivation for Lionel Messi to request his departure from the Spanish club.

The book "May God Save Pep" by Spanish journalist Marti Perarnau revealed intriguing behind-the-scenes details and secrets related to that loss and Messi's relationship with Barcelona's president, Josep Bartomeu.

Perarnau unveiled the hidden aspects during an interview on the "El Larguero" program, indicating that Messi contacted Manchester City's manager, Pep Guardiola after the defeat to inquire about the possibility of joining him at Manchester City.

He added, "Leo was not comfortable with Bartomeu and saw that his sporting project was not successful. Therefore, he wanted to leave Barcelona, which he expressed later through the famous Burofax. Messi wanted to meet Guardiola and find out if he would welcome him at Manchester City if he left Barça."

The renowned journalist explained that Guardiola explained to Messi the challenges of life in Manchester City, such as long rainy periods and intense training sessions. However, Messi welcomed all of this and promised to give his best, even saying, "I don't want a sunny beach; I'll take it when I retire."

Perarnau emphasized that Messi was confident that he would be welcomed at City if he left Barcelona. However, the problem was the presence of a remaining season in his contract and a high release clause.

He answered the question of why Guardiola did not actively pursue Messi afterward, saying, "Messi had decided to stay for an additional season with Barça, and Pep did not press to try to sign him because he is a big Barcelona fan and did not want to cause any harm to the club. He only wanted to sign him if he was free and separated from Barcelona."