Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo? When Germany star Florian Wirtz made his pick
German youngster Florian Wirtz made his pick between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo earlier this year. In a viral video recorded by a fan during Bayer Leverkusen's Bundesliga title celebration this season.
Wirtz chose Leo Messi over Ronaldo when asked to make his choice.
"For me it's Messi," he said.
This is not the first time Wirtz has talked about idolizing Lionel Messi. In a 2022 interview with Sky Sports Germany, the Bayer Leverkusen star claimed that nobody can play like the Argentine and revealed that he wanted to be as good as him as a child.
"My first jersey, however, was Messi's Argentina jersey. When I was little, he was the best player there was at the time in the world. I watched videos of him, was a fan of his - I wanted to be as good as him," Wirtz admitted (via GOAL).
"Of course, I've developed my own style in the meantime. But nobody can play like Messi - he has his own way of playing. Sometimes, I watch more specifically how he solves situations," he added.
Florian Wirtz had an incredible season with Bayer Leverkusen as he won the Bundesliga and the DFB-Pokal with the club. He was key to the German club's success, having scored 18 goals and 20 assists in 49 appearances for the club.
The attacking midfielder also scored the opening goal for Germany in the Euro 2024 opener against Scotland on Friday (June 14), ultimately leading to a 5-1 victory for their side.
When Thomas Muller changed his stance in the Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo debate
Several German players apart from Wirtz have previously given their take on the Cristiano Ronaldo vs Lionel Messi debate, including Thomas Muller, Toni Kroos and Ikaay Gundogan.
While Muller previously chose Cristiano Ronaldo over the Argentine, he recently changed his stance in favor of the Argentine forward in a 2023 interview with DAZN.
“I’ll say the GOAT for me is Messi because he makes people say ‘I’ll go to the stadium because of his elegance’. 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,” Muller said.
Muller's statement comes after he previously picked Cristiano Ronaldo over Lionel Messi in an ESPN interview, explaining that he has a better record against Messi compared to Ronaldo.
"I go for Ronaldo. Against Messi I have a good statistic, against Ronaldo, not that good," he had said.
The Bayern Munich forward had a tough time against Cristiano Ronaldo's former club, Real Madrid.
Ronaldo is remembered for his exceptional performance against Muller's club Bayern in the 2016-17 UCL quarter-finals, having scored five goals across two legs including a hat-trick in the second leg, leading Los Blancos to a 6-3 aggregate win. Real Madrid also defeated Bayern in the 2017-18 Champions League semi-finals with a 4-3 aggregate although Ronaldo did not score in either game.
Bayern also famously defeated Lionel Messi's former club Barcelona 8-2 in the 2020 Champions League quarter-finals.