It happened on 18 March, 2015. Pep Guardiola — who at the time was the coach of Bayern Munich — was at Camp Nou to scout a last-16 tie featuring a pair of possible future opponents in that season’s UEFA Champions League knockout stages.
Curiously, the match pitted his former team, FC Barcelona, against Manchester City, the very side he’ll be leading back into Camp Nou on Wednesday night for a highly intriguing group stage fixture.
After Barça had taken the first leg, 2–1, at the Etihad Stadium, The Citizens came into Barcelona looking to come back and earn a berth in the quarter-finals. It was not to be. Barça won the return leg, 1–0, on a goal by Ivan Rakitic in minute 31.
But the moment of the night belonged to Lionel Messi.
Seven minutes after the goal, in the 38th, Messi made a spectacular move along the side-line in the Barça half, nutmegging City midfielder James Milner, evoking a gasp from the 92,551-strong crowd and a look of sheer disbelief on the face of his former manager Guardiola.
