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| Jamal Musiala of Bayern Muenchen controls the Ball during the Bundesliga match between TSG Hoffenheim and FC Bayern München at PreZero-Arena on October 22, 2022 in Sinsheim, Germany. |
Barcelona will play hosts to Bayern Munich tomorrow in the fifth matchweek of the UEFA Champions League group stages.
Heading into the game, Bayern Munich prodigy Jamal Musiala opened up on the excitement for the match as well as revealed some Barcelona legends as his idols while also giving his opinion on the Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo debate.
Musiala, regarded as one of the finest young prospects in the game currently, lost to Barcelona sensation Gavi in the race for the Kopa Trophy and Golden Boy 2022 awards.
On missing out on the accolades to the Barça prodigy, Musiala said (h/t FCB World): “All the candidates wanted to win it. Gavi deserved it, he is a great player and he had a great season.”
Barcelona are staring at another group-stage exit from the UEFA Champions League. The only chance they can still have a chance of progressing is if Viktoria Plzen beat Inter Milan and the Blaugrana win their remaining two matches, including the one against Bayern.
When asked if the Bavarians want to make sure that Barcelona are eliminated, Musiala responded: “Barcelona are still a great team and it will be a difficult match for us, our only goal is to continue with the same energy in the Champions League.”
On whether he is used to seeing former Bayern teammate Robert Lewandowski in Barcelona colours, Musiala said: “It’s strange but we’ll get used to it, it’s always nice when we meet in the end. He’s a great player and person.”
Talking about how he grew up watching and admiring Barcelona, the German international stated: “I watched many matches of the great Barcelona team since childhood. Messi, Xavi and Iniesta, it is amazing how they played football, you learn by watching them.
“Barça are a club with a strong philosophy and always choose their players and talents, it’s fun for the spectators and I was one of them at the time.”
On the never-ending debate of who is the superior between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, Musiala admitted that even though he adores the latter, he was always ‘Team Messi’.
“El Clasico between Cristiano’s Madrid and Messi’s Barcelona used to be crazy. Despite my admiration for Cristiano, I am from Team Messi (laughs),” he said.
The German sensation then admitted to idolising Messi, as he added: “Messi, he scored many goals and won titles and never changed, he remained faithful to his principles, I want to continue on the same path.”