Pep Guardiola heaped praise on Marco Verratti after Manchester City’s 2-0 defeat against PSG in the Champions League: ‘I’m in love with him.’
The Italian midfielder returned to action after an injury and played 78 minutes against the Premier League champions. Verratti had missed the last four league games for the Ligue 1 giants with a knee injury.
He started against Pep Guardiola’s side at the Parc des Princes last night in a game that saw Gigio Donnarumma make his Champions League debut and Leo Messi score his first goal with the Paris giants.
During his post-match press conference, Guardiola praised the former Pescara man.
“I’m in love, he is an exceptional player because he is under pressure but has the calm to have one extra touch and at that moment create extra passes behind our midfielders,” Guardiola said.
🗣"I'm in love." ❤️
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola spoke of his admiration for PSG midfielder Marco Verratti. pic.twitter.com/5PjH3nHi5x
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) September 29, 2021
“I know the character and personality that he has, he did it again. I am happy he is back from his injury. He looks not tall, but when you see how he plays and moves…
“He is not a player for long-distance passes, but you can count on him for the build-up and knows exactly where are the spaces to create another situation. It was a special first half, in the second half was controlled by Kevin [De Bruyne], but we were a little bit soft with him in the first half.”
Verratti joined PSG in a €12m move from Pescara in 2012. He has 349 appearances with the Ligue1 giants, with whom he’s won 27 trophies, including seven French titles.
The 28-year-old played a key role in Italy’s UEFA Euro 2020 triumph last summer. Oddly, he’s never played a Serie A game in his career as PSG signed him after he had helped Pescara gain promotion from Serie B.