The failure of Paris Saint-Germain in Champions League, after being eliminated in the round of 16 against Bayern Munich 3-0 on aggregate, unleashed all kinds of jokes against Messi and company, but not only on the Internet, with memes and publications, since one of his rivals was added to these: Thomas mullerwho implied that he does not see him as a dangerous rival, while Cristiano Ronaldo did cause them problems when he played for Real Madrid.
“Against Messi things usually go well in terms of results. At the club level our problem was Cristiano Ronaldo in his Real Madrid days“, said Müller after the game, giving him ammunition that those who live from the debate about the superiority of the Argentine over the Portuguese and vice versa.
This only reaffirmed something that he had already said in previous months in another interview with similar words.
The statements can be seen as daring -although Müller later qualified by praising Messi’s performance in the World Cup- but If the statistics are reviewed, it can be seen that the Bayern captain did nothing more than express a fact aim.
At club level the two players have met six times. Müller, always with Bayern, has won five of those games. Messi has won just one, with Barcelona in the 2015 semifinals.
Müller in those games has scored five goals and has given two assists, compared to a goal and an assist from Messi despite the fact that the Argentine was in those games for 540 minutes on the field and Müller only 439 minutes.
At national team level, Messi and Müller have faced each other twice in official matches. The first in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa when Germany, with Müller on the pitch, beat Messi’s Argentina 0-4. Müller scored the first goal.
The second in the 2014 final when Germany took the title after winning 1-0.
Messi’s Argentina has prevailed in two friendlies, the first time 0-1 in Munich on March 3, 2010, just the day Müller made his debut with the German national team.
The second time by 1-3 in Frankfurt, after the 2014 World Cup. But when there has been something at stake the balance has been clear in favor of Müller.
That didn’t stop the player, after recalling his positive personal balance, praise Messi’s performance in Qatar.
“His individual performance, naturally supported by his peers, was insane. He led the whole team with his actions and his ambition“, he assured.
Regarding Messi’s situation at PSG, Müller pointed out that it should not be easy to play for the Parisian team.
“I think it’s not easy to play for a team like PSG. It’s hard to strike a balance as a team. Having individualities helps you win certain matches for sure, but it also implies that there may be matter of conflict.“, he concluded.
*With information from EFE
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