Turning Down the Champions League — Why De Paul Traded Europe for Miami
Mornings start early in Miami. Before Inter Miami's squad gathers for collective training, two men are already out on the pitch — Lionel Messi and Rodrigo De Paul. None of it appears on the schedule. It is their own choice.
De Paul's route to that pitch has baffled plenty. The Argentina midfielder swapped Atlético Madrid for Miami — first on loan, then on a permanent deal worth roughly €15 million. Many read the move from Europe's elite down to MLS, the North American league, as a backward step. De Paul, though, had done the cold maths.
He takes the criticism calmly, calling such views entirely fair, yet insists his priority lies elsewhere. "The most important thing in my career right now is playing," he says. And play he certainly does in Miami. "I'm out there every three days, I haven't had an injury, and I'm in the best shape of my life."
To those who reproached him for giving up Champions League nights, the Argentine answered plainly: six or seven matches a year in that competition were never decisive for him. His logic was simple — he needed minutes and rhythm in his legs. Rather than prestige, it was that rhythm he chose.
Messi and De Paul's Secret Regime
This was no idle decision. For months now, De Paul and Messi have trained beyond club sessions, doubling their workload alongside a personal trainer. "We push ourselves to breaking point physically, just to be in the best possible shape," De Paul says of a regime the pair imposed on themselves. They even film the sessions, and the footage may yet surface in a documentary.
Yet there is far more to this bond than physical work. De Paul casts himself as an emotional creature, a man who soars one moment and slumps the next. Messi is wired differently. "He's far steadier than me — I'm the one who swings up and down," the Argentine admits. That equilibrium is precisely what steadies him when things turn difficult. Messi leads not through loud words but through absolute calm, and that calm becomes De Paul's anchor whenever his own mood betrays him.
Defending the Title — A Hunger That Never Fades
In an interview before the tournament, De Paul described a psychological weight he cannot shake. "It's simply impossible to live without thinking about the World Cup," he conceded. The closer the finals draw, the more vivid those thoughts become.
That footballing hunger has not dimmed — not after two Copa América triumphs, South America's continental crown, nor after lifting the World Cup in 2022. De Paul remains the boy who grew up in Sarandí and first made his name at Racing, the club on the edge of Buenos Aires where his career began. "I see belief in my teammates, and a hunger to keep this story going," he adds, convinced that Argentina will once again play a leading role.
Now the calculation meets its real test. Argentina open the World Cup in Kansas City, at Arrowhead Stadium, against Algeria, with Austria and Jordan completing their group. The defence of the title won in Qatar begins right there. And those quiet Miami mornings will deliver their answer the moment Messi and De Paul walk out together again — this time in the sky-blue and white.
