Thomas muller
He is one of the few players in the world who have the chance to boast a positive stat against
Lionel Messi
.
Just remember the
2014 World Cup final in Brazil
or
Bayern Munich's 8-2 defeat against Barcelona in the quarterfinals of the 2019/2020 Champions League to prove it
.
And the German striker knows it...
In the run-up to the round of 16 round of this edition of the Champions League, the striker had been asked about this issue and, after taking the opportunity to review the numbers, he tried to
be measured with his words: "Of course I know my statistics in matches against Messi
. Before a game like tomorrow's, we always talk about those things. There's the
2-8 against Barcelona, but I think that more important than that was the 7-0 aggregate win in our favor in the 2013 semifinal
. it was ten years ago.
Statistics are a thing of the past. This will be another game."
However,
after the 2-0 win this Wednesday
and eliminating
Paris Saint Germain
of the most important club competition in Europe, Müller put formalism aside and took aim directly at the Argentine with a provocative phrase:
"Against Messi, things always go well at all levels in terms of results."
And adding even more spice, he continued: "
At the club level, Cristiano Ronaldo was our problem when he was at Real Madrid."
Beyond the unnecessary provocation, the numbers prove Müller right, because
Leo faced Bayern Munich eight times and only won two games.
The rest were
five losses and a draw.
At the National Team level, the results are more even:
Argentina won two and lost two
.
However, the
two wins were in friendly matches and the falls in World Cups
.
The first, the
4-0 in South Africa 2010 and the already mentioned 1-0 defeat in the final of Brazil 2014.
Instead,
Cristiano has played eight games against Bayern Munich and won five, drew one and lost two.
After the stick, the praise
After the spicy phrase, Müller did not ignore the recent consecration of Messi and the National Team in the World Cup and highlighted: "
But I have the utmost respect for Messi's performance in the World Cup. Messi's individual performance in the World Cup "It was incredible. He brought the whole team.
It's not that easy to play in a team like Paris. It's hard to have a very good team balance. But that naturally requires equipment to ignite the explosives."
look too
"We don't want it", and "it's a joke, in important games it disappears": Messi's most critical former PSG, very tough after elimination in the Champions League
Gio Simeone and an effort award: Scaloni summoned him for the friendlies of the Argentine National Team