German and Bayern Munich forward Thomas Muller has rubbed salt on the playing quality of Argentina star Lionel Messi at the club level.
The captain of the Bundesliga giants disclosed this when asked about his excellent record against Messi at the top level of football.
Bayern Munich cruised into the quarter-finals of the Champions League after thrashing Paris St-Germain in 2-0 victory on Wednesday in the second leg of the tournament, winning 3-0 on aggregate.
Messi has now lost five of his eight Champions League knockout games against Bayern.
Comparing Lionel Messi to Cristiano Ronaldo, the 33-year-old was respectful of the Argentinian icon’s World Cup achievements but realistic about the challenges he faces at the French club.
The Man of the Match winner said that his side always comes out victorious when playing with the World Cup winner [Messi] as compared to Portugal striker Cristiano Ronaldo.
He added that the former Madrid striker [Ronaldo] always played impressively and gave his side a difficult match whenever the two teams clash.
“Against Messi, things always go well at all levels in terms of results. At club level, Cristiano Ronaldo was our problem when he was at Real Madrid”
“I have the greatest respect for Messi‘s World Cup performance”, the captain of Bayern Munich said.
Thomas Müller: "Against Messi, things always go well at all levels in terms of results. At club level, Cristiano Ronaldo was our problem when he was at Real Madrid. But I have the greatest respect for Messi's World Cup performance" [@georg_holzner] pic.twitter.com/duZ94DgZxw
— Bayern & Germany (@iMiaSanMia) March 9, 2023
Thomas Muller continued that “Messi’s individual performance at the World Cup was amazing”.
“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.”
Meanwhile, with the elimination of PSG, Bayern is among the four teams to have booked their place in the quarterfinal of the Champions League with the remaining set to be determined next week.