"I am even ahead of Messi" - Bayern Munich's Thomas Muller talks about assist race with PSG star

Bayern Munich attacker Thomas Muller insists he is ahead of Lionel Messi in terms of assists provided over the last three years.

The German, who has been a team player all his life, initially broke into the front page of world football as a number nine. But Muller has adjusted his game over the years to the needs of his team.

He now plays as a shadow forward for both club and country in order to enhance the balance of the teams. Famously known as "Raumdeuter" (meaning space investigator), Muller is now known for his assists.

The 32-year-old, who is best in the business in finding space for his teammates, has more assists (238) than goals (223) for Bayern Munich (in 610 senior club appearances).

Muller is now being compared to another assist machine in Europe - a certain Lionel Messi, who has 309 assists for Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain combined. Competitive as always, the German had this to say about the Argentine ace:

"As far as assist stats are concerned, that’s probably the case at the moment. If you look at the stats from the past three years, I’m even ahead of Messi. It’s a huge motivation for me to be competing with the best players in the world. I’ve been doing that since my breakthrough in 2010. But a direct comparison with Messi makes little sense."

However, Muller did acknowledge the brilliance of Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and his Bayern Munich teammate Robert Lewandowski. He added:

“What Messi and Ronaldo have been doing in the past 15 years, and Lewy for several years is out of this world. Nevertheless, I’m of course trying to stick myself there a bit.”

Bayern Munich's success more important than individual awards to Muller

Muller is widely known for not being a big advertiser of individual awards. Asked about the importance of individual accolades, the Bayern Munich forward said:

“I have mixed feelings about [winning individual awards]. If you want to win the biggest individual awards, everything has to fit. There are maybe many players with my stats who can’t 100 percent compete, but they still have great individual abilities.”

He added:

“These awards are always about being brilliant, having a special flair, and being marketable on an international level. German football is not at the top at the moment because the Bundesliga has not been doing well recently. Our Champions League win in 2020 was rather an exception."

Muller has scored nine goals and provided 20 assists in 29 appearances in all competitions for Bayern Munich this season.