Pjanic has played alongside both, with two years spent working with a Portuguese icon at Juventus before the decision was taken to head for Catalunya.
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He has linked up with Messi at Camp Nou and is thoroughly enjoying that experience, despite finding regular game time hard to come by.
“Messi is an extra-terrestrial. Every time I played against him, it was very difficult, almost impossible to stop him, and now that I’m by his side, I see that he’s a phenomenon. “Every time he has the ball, something happens. Either a goal or an assist, or an incredible pass. He’s a genius.”
Messi will lead Barca into battle with uncertainty continuing to reign when it comes to his future. He is only tied to terms through to the summer of 2021 and has already made one push for the exits.
He said of a long-running saga: “Before arriving, I saw there were problems and that Messi was not well. But now I see him very motivated and focused on his work. “It’s up to us to help him and make him play even better. When you have a player like Leo on your team, you have to take advantage of it and try to win everything.”