The recent triumph of Inter Miami in the MLScon Lionel Messi as a central figure, not only did it mean the Argentine’s fourth title with the Florida club, but it also revealed the sporting rivalry with Thomas Müllernow captain of Vancouver Whitecaps. The Canadian team reached the final under the leadership of the German forward, who had to recognize the superiority of the Florida team after a match marked by the decisive performance of the Rosario star.
In the press conference after the meeting, Müller was consulted about the performance of Messiwhich provoked an ironic but honest reaction. The German responded: “Yes, the three assists he made played an important role, I don’t know what you want to get from that question. But yes, he had three and I had zero. He won the duel because he won the title. Next year we will come back and we will be stronger, but that is the future.”declared the former Bayern Munich attacker.
own Müller He highlighted the unexpected journey of his team during the contest. “When the season started, the experts had ranked the team second to last in the conference, and the team proved them wrong”said the Vancouver Whitecaps captain.
Despite the defeat, the 36-year-old forward underlined the competitiveness of his squad and lamented the wasted opportunities: “Inter Miami has a great team, but we still had them, we could have won, we were unlucky with very clear chances that didn’t go in, and then the game goes in another direction”.
The development of the match left mixed feelings in the Canadian team, especially after Inter Miami’s second goal. Müller explained: “After 2-1 we spent 10, 15 minutes uncontrolled. That’s what happens, we are a team with many young people. It’s hard to lose like that, after feeling that we had the game in our hands“.
It is worth remembering that in the preview, attention focused on the streak of Müller, who had been victorious in seven of the ten previous duels against Messi, including Barcelona’s historic 8-2 defeat against Bayern Munich and the 2014 World Cup final in Brazil, where Germany victory to Argentina 1-0 in the Maracana.
The German striker, who joined the Vancouver Whitecaps in August after 25 years at Bayern, he had a string of four consecutive wins about the Rosario, the last two during Messi’s time at Paris Saint-Germain. In contrast, the Argentine’s three victories came in two international friendlies (1-0 in 2010 and 3-1 in 2012) and in the 2015 Champions League semi-final, when Barcelona defeated Bayern 3-0 at the Camp Nou.
After winning the Western Conference title, Müller He issued a joking warning that went viral on social networks: “I will hunt you again.”directed to Messi. However, the German tried to downplay the drama of the personal duel, although he recognized the importance of the confrontation. “Against Messi things usually go well in terms of results. It’s not Messi against Müller, it’s Miami against Whitecaps. Maybe they depend a little more on him than this team depends on me, because we are such a good group… You understand what I’m saying, right?”he had indicated. Finally, the Argentine was left with this duel and was able to end the adverse streak against the German attacker.
