Müller, Whitecaps ready for Messi’s Miami squad as MLS Cup final approaches

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As perhaps befits a man possessing a 7-3 record over 10 career encounters with Lionel Messi, Thomas Müller was in a light-hearted mood two days ahead of one of the most star-studded championship games in Major League Soccer history.

“With my teams,” the German midfielder quickly interjected Thursday when a reporter brought up the head-to-head record between two of the sport’s icons, “we never played one-on-one,” he laughed.

Whether he’ll still be smiling after Saturday’s final whistle remains to be seen.

When Müller’s Vancouver Whitecaps meet Messi’s Inter Miami in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., much of that star power – and the home crowd – will be sided with the Argentine talisman. So while there will be four World Cup winners on the pitch – guaranteeing that for the first time in the 30-year existence of the North American soccer league, a world champion will also lift the MLS Cup – three of them will be wearing the pink jersey of Miami.

And that’s before former Barcelona greats Jordi Alba and Luis Suarez are added to the ledger.

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“It’s always nice to meet old friends,” Müller chuckled. “We are not really close, but I was always watching them play and they’re great players. They were great players. Some of them still are.”

While Müller’s Bayern Munich had many battles with Messi’s Barcelona team in the Champions League over the years, the most important encounter occurred with both in the colours of their national teams. In the 2014 World Cup final, Germany edged Argentina in extra time, denying not only Messi, but also his current coach with Miami, compatriot Javier Mascherano.

“He’s a player that obviously is the best of his generation, a world champion,” Mascherano said of Müller. “He’s won everything with Bayern, a player that gives not only Vancouver, but also the league, MLS, a hierarchy that is different. He’s a great player.”

Despite all his years of success against Messi’s teams, Müller’s coach with Vancouver, Jesper Sorensen, said the German hasn’t offered up any tidbits on how to beat the living legend.

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“No,” the Danish coach said, adding that it’s hard to prepare a game plan for someone prone to flashes of brilliance. “We know that we are up against the player who is considered by many, and rightfully so, the best who ever played this game and we know that you always have to expect the unexpected when you play up against a player like Lionel Messi.”

Vancouver didn’t need a whole lot of help from its German superstar last weekend. He was held off the scoresheet as the Whitecaps dismantled the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, San Diego, jumping out to a 3-0 halftime lead in Southern California before cruising to a 3-1 win.

Out east, Miami romped past New York City, riding a hat trick from Tadeo Allende to a 5-1 victory in which none of the team’s big guns found the back of the net.

For Sorensen, that new-found depth is the difference between this current Miami team and the one that the Whitecaps beat home and away in the semi-finals of the CONCACAF Champions Cup back in April. Some of that evolution occurred earlier in the playoffs, as Suarez served a one-match ban in the first round, leading to Mascherano bringing in Mateo Silvetti to partner Messi and Allende up front.

Miami has since responded by scoring 13 goals in its past three games, with Suarez coming off the bench in the past two.

“I think it’s a little bit more balanced team now,” the Whitecaps coach said. “And of course, we can see now they got Allende [and he] has played a big part for them as of late and he stretched just the pitch more for them with his speed.”

However you slice it, Vancouver will have its work cut out on Saturday. And not just in the present either, taking on a team one year removed from the greatest regular season in MLS history. It will also be forced to confront the weight of history.

Since the league abandoned neutral-site finals following the 2011 season, the team playing host to MLS Cup – awarded to the one with the better regular-season record – has won 10 of the 13 games, with New York City the last to win on the road four years ago.

Add to that the fact that Saturday will be the last games in the glittering careers of both Alba and Sergio Busquets, as well as being Miami’s final game at Chase Stadium before the Herons decamp for the plush Miami Freedom Park next year, and it all adds up to what seems a fairly insurmountable obstacle.

Not that a born winner like Müller – chasing his 36th career trophy as a professional – is about to be intimidated by a sizeable challenge.

When asked about what it’s like to be the underdog, Müller turned the question around on the reporter.

“When it comes to the math, one question: What’s our chances to win it away from home? Ten per cent, 20 or less?” he asked.

When he didn’t get the response he was looking for, he answered his own question.

“But there’s a chance, a little chance?” he said sarcastically. “I’m glad to hear that.”