Every Lionel Messi v Thomas Müller meeting, ranked from least to most consequential | Lionel Messi

This was the matchup Thomas Müller wished.

“My historical past with [Messi] forces me to hope for a closing towards Miami,” the previous Bayern Munich and Germany star informed Calen Carr in a current interview previewing the MLS playoffs forward for his new aspect, the Vancouver Whitecaps.

And what a historical past it’s. The 2 giants of world soccer have met 11 occasions for membership and nation at senior stage, with Müller’s staff popping out on prime in eight of these contests. Muller has scored seven occasions to Messi’s three. No marvel, maybe, that the German retains getting requested for his secret to stopping Messi, and the way a lot, if any of it, could be handed on to his Whitecaps teammates forward of the pair’s twelfth assembly – barring damage – in MLS Cup this Saturday.

Messi place in historical past is so usually positioned in relation to Cristiano Ronaldo, helped partially by the near-constant conferences between the 2 throughout their occasions at Barcelona and Actual Madrid. Messi’s rivalry with Müller, such because it even exists, is a distinct animal. The 2 haven’t performed towards one another usually, however after they have, it has normally meant a complete lot. Wanting again over their previous conferences, it’s placing how usually a crushing defeat led to the tip of 1 period or one other, how a single aim shifted fortunes of the groups and teammates round them, and the way via their matchups one can observe the rise and fall of any variety of gamers, coaches, and tendencies.

Right here, then, are all 11 situations the place Messi met Müller, ranked from least to most consequential for the gamers, their groups, the followers, and the game at massive.

11. Bayern Munich 2-0 Barcelona

24 July 2013

Uli Hoeness Cup (pleasant) | Allianz Enviornment, Munich, Germany

It’s a membership pleasant; virtually the dictionary definition of an inconsequential match. Barcelona began with a full-strength aspect however made 11 adjustments at half-time. Bayern made 10 substitutions over the course of the match. Essentially the most fascinating issues listed here are for MLS heads: Ilie Sánchez performed for Barcelona, years earlier than turning out for Sporting KC, Los Angeles FC, and Austin FC. One other one particularly for Sporting KC followers: Jordi Quintilla, who scored the successful penalty within the 2015 US Open Cup closing, performed the second-half alongside Ilie for Barça. Neither Messi nor Müller did a lot of consequence.

10. Germany 1-3 Argentina

5 August 2012

Pleasant | Deutsche Financial institution Park, Frankfurt, Germany

Müller ended up exiting this one after simply 32 minutes as a consequence of a tactical substitution, serving because the sacrifice after goalkeeper Ron-Robert Zieler was despatched off. Messi’s future Barcelona teammate Marc-André ter Stegen got here on rather than Müller and promptly saved Messi’s penalty. Messi would later rating with a trademark low end.

9. Bayern Munich 3-2 Barcelona

12 Could 2015

Champions League semi-final second leg | Allianz Enviornment, Munich, Germany

Müller scored the winner on this one, nevertheless it was about as hole a successful aim as you’re more likely to get on this matchup within the Champions League. Bayern’s 3-2 win nonetheless left them down 6-3 on combination after coming aside within the first leg, sending Barcelona right into a Champions League closing they’d win. This was the height of the Messi-Neymar-Luis Suárez trio, and on this evening it was the latter two who shone brightest, with Neymar scoring twice on Suárez assists inside 29 minutes.

“This tie was already lifeless, buried and ceremonially despatched with half an hour gone,” wrote Barney Ronay for the Guardian.

8. Germany 0-1 Argentina

3 March 2010

Pleasant | Allianz Enviornment, Munich, Germany

The primary-ever assembly between Müller and Messi was solely mildly consequential on the time – it was only a pleasant, in any case. But it surely went on to be a reference level when the 2 sides met in that 12 months’s World Cup quarter-finals – one thing Argentina supervisor Diego Maradona appeared to have an inkling of.

“This recreation had the character of a World Cup quarter-final,” he stated after his aspect’s 1-0 win, presumably having watched it via a crystal ball (or perhaps not, contemplating Argentina would go on to lose the quarter-final 4-0).

Except for setting the stage for the World Cup match to come back, maybe crucial factor to come back out of this recreation is that it gave Müller, then simply 20, his debut with the nationwide staff, within the stadium the place he’d go on to be a fixture at membership stage for the subsequent 15 years. Messi carried out effectively (“I thank God that Messi is Argentinian,” Maradona quipped), however was stored off the scoresheet.

7. PSG 0-1 Bayern Munich

14 February 2023

Champions League last-16 first leg | Parc Des Princes, Paris, France

Messi’s first match towards Bayern in PSG colours might have gone higher for him, because the PSG academy product Kingsley Coman scored the one aim of the sport for the German aspect. Messi, paired with Neymar up prime with Kylian Mbappé coming off the bench as a consequence of damage, was compelled to drop deep in an effort to get something going for the house aspect.

“A Paris Saint-Germain staff with Neymar and Messi put in as a walking-football entrance two produced a horribly constipated efficiency … that threatens to deadhead their season earlier than the tip of February,” wrote Barney Ronay for the Guardian.

Müller, in a rarity for him in these video games, got here off the bench within the victory.

6. Bayern Munich 4-0 Barcelona

23 April 2013

Champions League semi-final first leg | Allianz Enviornment, Munich, Germany

Müller fizzed together with the remainder of Bayern Munich in a whole domination of a Barcelona aspect seemingly in disarray in one in every of Tito Villanova’s final matches in cost earlier than leaving the membership for well being causes. Müller scored a header, offered an help with one other header, and capped off the consequence with a sliding end to seal the consequence.

Messi, wrote Daniel Taylor for the Guardian, “was peripheral, wanting more and more forlorn as the sport went on, arms on hips and shaking his head. He had a stinker.” The hamstring damage that restricted him for this recreation would preserve him out of the second leg, which Bayern gained 3-0 to safe their spot within the Champions League closing, the place they’d declare the title.

5. Bayern Munich 2-0 PSG

8 March 2023

Champions League last-16 second leg | Allianz Enviornment, Munich, Germany

On the time, this appeared like simply one other instance of why, for all their monetary may, PSG’s soccer undertaking was far-off from capturing the prize that mattered most. It could be the final Champions League match of this period for the Parisian membership, who subsequently employed Luis Enrique and have become the European champions we all know right this moment.

This match stands out for an additional purpose: It was Messi’s final in European competitors. Three months after this loss, Messi would announce he was leaving PSG, with an unsanctioned journey to Saudi Arabia within the interim fueling rumors that may be his subsequent cease. As an alternative, he landed in Miami, and instantly began serving up memorable moments once more.

However on this recreation, wrote Jonathan Liew within the Guardian, “Messi sank to his haunches, a thunderous look upon his face, a person maybe realising the true scale of the farce to which he was devoting his final footballing years.”

Müller began, teaming up with Leon Goretzka to offer the opening aim for Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting. Bayern would run into the Manchester Metropolis buzzsaw within the subsequent spherical.

4. Germany 4-0 Argentina

3 July 2010

World Cup quarter-final | Inexperienced Level Stadium, Cape City, South Africa

The buildup to this one was, within the phrases of the Guardian’s Paul Hayward, “enjoyably acrimonious.” Germany’s Bastian Schweinsteiger stated of Argentina: “You see their physique language, how they gesticulate, how they attempt to affect the referee. That’s not a part of the sport. That may be a lack of respect. It’s their mentality and character and we’ll have to regulate.”

Germany adjusted a lot, tearing aside Argentina’s midfield en path to a dominant win. Müller opened the scoring, shedding Nicolas Otamendi on a set piece and heading Schweinsteiger’s free-kick into the again of the web – his fourth worldwide aim of what would develop into a haul of 45. Such was the dominance of Germany that Messi barely had any alternatives in any respect.

3. Barcelona 3-0 Bayern Munich

6 Could 2015

Champions League semi-final first leg | Camp Nou, Barcelona, Spain

There was a major narrative heading into this one – Pep Guardiola’s return to Camp Nou as supervisor of Bayern – nevertheless it ended up turning into recognized for one in every of Messi’s most interesting performances. Messi contributed to all three objectives on the evening, helping one and scoring two, one in every of which resulted in poor Jérôme Boateng falling into meme-dom. Müller, in the meantime, hung robust with Bayern till Messi’s breakthrough within the 77th minute, then exited in favor of Mario Götze.

As Sid Lowe wrote for the Guardian: “Guardiola’s evening grew to become Messi’s evening but once more, his identify ringing spherical this stadium as soon as extra, the homage in Catalonia reserved for him and all else forgotten amid the euphoria.”

2. Bayern Munich 8-2 ​​Barcelona

14 August 2020

Champions League quarter-final | La Luz Stadium, Lisbon, Portugal

It’s a type of scorelines – like 7-1, in one other recreation involving Müller – that just about wants no additional rationalization. Utter humiliation behind closed doorways within the Covid-19-era Champions League knockouts led Messi to ship his first request to go away the membership he had been at since childhood, sending English-speakers the world over Googling what a “burofax” is and the Barcelona hierarchy scrambling to maintain him in place. Messi ended up staying for only one extra season, however this defeat was the truest signal that the excessive occasions Messi and Barcelona loved all through the 2010s have been effectively and really over.

“Historical past is not going to be type to the individuals who make the choices on the Camp Nou. They deserve nothing however scorn for squandering Lionel Messi’s expertise,” wrote Jacob Steinberg for the Guardian.

Müller was sensible, together with the remainder of Bayern, scoring twice and registering an help. “He’s a footballer who is aware of the way to win,” wrote Barney Ronay for the Guardian, “who understands the actions round him, the best way the house opens and closes.”

Past the scoreline, the match comprises a lot of different spots of intrigue: This is able to be Suárez’s final match as Messi’s teammate earlier than becoming a member of him in Miami. Bayern’s head coach, Hansi Flick, is now in command of Barcelona. Within the lineup for Bayern that day was Alphonso Davies, having come via the academy of the Vancouver Whitecaps, the place Müller now performs.

1. Germany 1-0 Argentina AET

13 July 2014

World Cup closing | Marcaña, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

It’s a World Cup closing, and thus a simple option to prime this record. Subsequent to Götze’s successful aim, the match has been remembered for all the probabilities Argentina missed, together with a confounding Messi alternative he pulled vast within the second half. Müller went the total 120 minutes, serving to Germany eke out a tense closing that ended, surprisingly sufficient, with Messi receiving the Golden Ball for the event’s greatest participant.

“We deserved a bit extra after the match we performed,” Messi stated afterward.

The consequence capped an astonishing comeback story for German soccer, with Müller on the middle of a lot of the on-field reinvention. It additionally elevated Argentina’s desperation to profit from the tail finish of Messi’s prime and produce a long-awaited third star to the nation’s crest – one thing they’d have to attend till 2022 to perform.