Former Manchester United defender Nemanja Vidic insisted that Pep Guardiola brought the best out of Lionel Messi during their time together at Barcelona.

The Serbian admitted that the Champions League final defeats to Barcelona in 2009 and 2011 were two low points for the Red Devils and the Catalan manager’s best use of the Argentine forward was the main reason for Barca’s success.

“Guardiola changed Messi,” Vidic told The Athletic.

“He used to play on the right and had a tendency to cut inside. He was dangerous but predictable.

“Guardiola made him central and he became better. The whole team began to play for him. He runs at defenders with wingers running alongside him. I played against him twice and we lost both times. It’s hard to admit they were the better team, still hard to say and it’s still hard to take.

“We had a great team in 2009. We could’ve done better. We were the European and world champions, Barcelona were more scared of us than we were of them. Beating us gave them more belief. Rome was a tipping point for Guardiola’s Barcelona.”