Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo? When Thomas Muller picked his favorite
Bayern Munich star Thomas Muller once made his choice in the GOAT debate between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. The German international has played against both legends several times for both club and country.
Messi has faced Muller 10 times in his career. Four of these were international games, four times while playing for Barcelona, and the remaining two times as a Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) player. Meanwhile, Ronaldo has also faced Muller 10 times, of which three were international fixtures. The other seven times came at the club level while the Portuguese icon was at Real Madrid.
In a 2022 interview with ESPN, Thomas Muller chose Cristiano Ronaldo over Lionel Messi, claiming the German had a better record against the latter. He said (via Bolavip):
"Messi or Ronaldo? I’ll go for Ronaldo. Against Messi, I have a good statistic, against Ronaldo not that good."
In terms of numbers, Muller was right as he boasts seven wins in 10 games against Lionel Messi. The German star's victories include the 1-0 win over Argentina in the 2014 World Cup final and the 8-2 win over Barcelona in the 2020 Champions League quarter-final, marking Messi's personal worst victories to date.
However, when it comes to playing against Cristiano Ronaldo. Muller's teams have suffered fewer losses (four), one draw, and five wins against Ronaldo. This includes the Portuguese talisman's iconic hat-trick against Bayern in the second leg of the 2016-17 Champions League quarter-final, as Real Madrid won 5-4 on aggregate.
The Bayern Munich star indeed boasts a slightly better record against Messi than Ronaldo.
However, Muller has changed his stance since then.
When Thomas Muller changed his stance in the 'Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo' debate
In a 2023 interview with DAZN, Thomas Muller declared Lionel Messi the greatest of all time. He said (via GOAL):
“The GOAT for me is Messi because he makes people say, 'I go to the stadium because of his elegance,' and at the same time, he is very effective in scoring goals and achieving records and titles. Cristiano is also a strong candidate in two categories which are stats and titles, but Messi is simply more subtle and elegant.”
Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have dominated football for over two decades. Both are hailed as two of the greatest footballers to have graced the game. While the Portuguese star has more career goals (905 over Messi's 843), the Argentine legend has won more trophies (46 over Ronaldo's 35).
Overall, pundits and fans will perhaps forever remain divided on who is the better footballer.