Speaking to the media after eliminating PSG from the Champions League, Bayern Munich captain and Man of the Match winner Thomas Muller was asked about his excellent record against Leo Messi at the top level of football. Comparing him to Cristiano Ronaldo, the 33-year-old was respectful of the Argentinian mega-star’s achievements but realistic about the challenges he faces at a club like Paris Saint-Germain.
“Messi’s individual performance at the World Cup was amazing,” continued Muller. “He carried the whole squad. It’s not so easy to play at a team like PSG. It’s difficult to get a really good team balance.”
It was not an easy game for the Argentinian as he struggled to break down Bayern Munich on the flank and got easily separated from Kylian Mbappe. Julian Nagelsmann and his team did a great job of keeping Messi isolated and prevented the PSG midfield from supplying him with any kind of service. Meanwhile, when Messi got the ball, Muller himself was often in the way of passes meant for a PSG teammate.
Overall, this is another black mark in Messi’s personal record against Thomas Muller, a player so stylistically different from him that the two may as well play another sport. Football is a funny game, where two personalities that would otherwise never intersect somehow find themselves constantly pitted against each other in a competitive environment.
Now watch as Ronaldo fan pages take that quote out of context and re-post it for the next 1,000 years. Thank you for keeping Messi stans on their toes, Thomas.