Pep Guardiola was reliant on Lionel Messi at Barcelona and the Catalan's Tiki-Taka are the cause for his Champions League curse, according to ex-Bayern Munich boss Felix Magath.
The Manchester City supremo has twice been crowned champion of Europe, taking the title back to the Nou Camp in 2009 and 2011 with Messi scoring in both finals.
Guardiola hasn't made a European final since, failing on his principle objective at Bayern Munich and, so far, at City too with a hat-full of semi-final and quarter-final exit.
Lionel Messi was in some of his best form for his years under Guardiola and let him to titles
Five league titles and eight additional trophies have gone a long way towards making up for his Champions League drought, but Magath believes Guardiola wouldn't even have one European title without Messi.