With Jack Grealish playing Champions League football for the first time in his career at Manchester City, he has played against a whole host of all-time greats.
One of the main reasons why Grealish would have been attracted by the prospect of joining City would have been to play in Europe’s elite competition.
In Manchester City’s treble-winning campaign, the Englishman created the most chances out of any player in the Champions League (35) as well, according to Opta Joe.
35 – @JackGrealish created 35 chances in the Champions League in 2022-23, 12 more than any other player, and the most since Dušan Tadić in 2018-19 (37):
35 – Grealish
23 – Zielinski
22 – De Bruyne, Tonali
20 – Bernardo, Di Lorenzo, Kimmich
Gucci. pic.twitter.com/9VJ85oATHI
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) June 11, 2023
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Grealish has embraced playing at the highest level and against some of the best players in the world.
The 29-year-old tends to seem fearless and ready to prove his worth in such high-stakes affairs.
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So much so that Grealish’s exclusion from England’s squad led to his teammates not agreeing with the decision due to his “quality and big-game experience.”
PARIS - (lr) Jack Grealish of Manchester City FC, Lionel Messi of Paris Saint-Germain during the UEFA Champions League match between Paris Saint-Ge...
Photo by ANP Sport via Getty Images
Jack Grealish says Lionel Messi is the best player he has ever faced
At Aston Villa, the decorated attacker’s opponents would only be limited to Premier League players.
Playing at the Etihad Stadium has helped the fleet-footed technician broaden his horizons.
When Grealish was asked to name the best player he has ever faced in his career, he reflected on going head-to-head with Lionel Messi when he played for Paris Saint-Germain.
The England international told Fubo: “The best player I’ve ever played against would be Lionel Messi for obvious reasons. I played against him when he was at PSG and obviously, I was here at Manchester City in my first season so, it was a privilege to even just be on the same pitch as him.”
Manuel Akanji lauded Messi as well by naming him the toughest player he has ever come up against.
Erling Haaland praised Messi by claiming he is the “greatest” player to have ever graced the game.
Rodri agreed with Haaland about the Argentine’s unique standing in world football.
In August, it was claimed Messi almost signed for Manchester City in 2020, a player who clearly holds high esteem at the club.
Grealish said De Bruyne is the best player he has ever played with
Now that his greatest-ever opponent has been revealed, Grealish singled Kevin De Bruyne out as the best player he has ever played with.
“The best player I’ve ever played with would have to be Kevin De Bruyne. An absolute magician and yeah, scored and assisted so many important goals in important games I’ve played in for Manchester City.”
“So yeah, I’d say Kev.”
Grealish would have learned plenty from both Messi and De Bruyne, considering the pair are arguably the most creative players football has seen for the past few decades.
The Manchester City wideman should continue to be inspired by the World Cup winner for his approach to the game, inventiveness and incredible work ethic off the pitch.
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