Rodrigo De Paul’s MLS vs. UEFA Champions League Verdict Faces Backlash
There has always been a debate about whether Major League Soccer at least approaches the level of tournaments like the UEFA Champions League. Inter Miami 's Rodrigo De Paul has a clear opinion on the matter.
De Paul, 31, left Atletico Madrid and arrived on loan to Inter Miami in the summer of 2025, helping the team win the MLS Cup.
Ahead of the 2026 season, the Herons signed him permanently. Prior to the start of the new campaign, De Paul addressed the MLS vs. Champions League debate.
"I think it's harder to win MLS than the Champions League," said the World Cup-winning midfielder with Argentina, via Marca .
His central argument was that the MLS format forces all teams to compete consistently during the regular season, before the playoff phase, in which any mistake can cost you elimination.
As expected, his opinion has generated much debate among fans.
Rodrigo De Paul’s Bold MLS vs. UEFA Champions League Comparison Draws Strong Reaction
The most repeated criticism among users is that De Paul never won the Champions League. "He never won the UCL, so he doesn't know the UCL value," one user wrote on Instagram.
"Not every player deserves to be interviewed," another fan said ironically. "Completely optional to read what he said," another fan added.
"It's harder to swim end to end in a swimming pool than in an ocean," another user wrote sarcastically on Instagram.
Another fan compared De Paul's statements to those Cristiano Ronaldo has also made about Saudi soccer and European soccer. "Ronaldo said Saudi is better than Europe or something like that [he said the Saudi league was better than France's Ligue 1], so what's hard in MLS/Saudi that makes Europe easy, worst part, easier than Champions League?"
Despite all the criticism, there were some comments that claimed to have better understood what De Paul was trying to say, like this one: "I think what he's trying to say is that the MLS has such an unpredictable format that anyone from at least 15 out of the 30 teams can win it. Whereas at UCL, we mostly guess the team will be a big team like Real Madrid or one that bought all the new talent, or be in a weaker league like PSG or Bayern, because they win the league early and can focus on the UCL. The MLS has had like 10 different winners in the last 10 years. He isn't saying MLS is better than the UCL, he's saying the format within those two competitions is different."
This story was originally published by Athlon Sports on Feb 19, 2026, where it first appeared in the Soccer section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
