Pep Guardiola hailed Rico Lewis as one of the best players he has ever coached after his starring role in Manchester City’s hard-fought win at RB Leipzig.
The 18-year-old produced a commanding display as the holders maintained the winning start to their Champions League defence with a 3-1 success at the Red Bull Arena on Wednesday.
Lewis, who made his first-team breakthrough as a right-back last season, had a hand in Phil Foden’s opening goal and proved City’s main driving force throughout.
City manager Guardiola, the former Barcelona boss whose past players have included Lionel Messi, said: “What a player! What a player!
I’ve been a manager for 14, 15, years and lucky to train one of the best players in the world in Barcelona.
“To find a player like him playing in the pockets, how he has to move as a holding midfielder, moving in the spaces, he is one of the best I’ve ever trained by far.
“He’s a humble guy, doesn’t talk much. He didn’t play much this season but he is going to play a lot.”
Despite Lewis’ contributions, it took the introduction of substitutes Julian Alvarez and Jeremy Doku to secure a hard-fought victory.
