Gareth Bale’s advice to Lionel Messi: MLS teams ‘accept losing’

Gareth Bale didn’t exactly give a glowing endorsement of Major League Soccer when he was asked what Lionel Messi could expect when he joins Inter Miami. 

Speaking with BT Sport, Bale described his own experience and, in the process, took a bit of a shot at the MLS.

The Welsh footballer played part of the 2022 MLS season with the LAFC and helped lead them to the club’s first MLS cup. 

But he said the atmosphere around the league is more relaxed than a lot of other leagues in the world.

“It is a lot more chilled,” Bale said of his MLS experience. “If you lose at [Rea]l Madrid, it is like the world has ended. You are crucified. You feel down. You go home and you’re not happy. They accept losing a bit more [in MLS]. There is no consequence. You can’t get relegated over there.

“When you lose a game you go on to the next one. They accept losing a lot better over there.”

Whether Bale meant it as an insult or not, the comments didn’t come across as necessarily positive for the North American soccer league. 

Unlike soccer in most of the world, MLS teams cannot be demoted to lower levels of the sport.

That’s opposed to the English Premier League, where a club can be demoted to England’s second division if it finishes at the bottom of the table. 

Bale appeared in 13 games for LAFC and scored three goals during his time in the MLS, which included a goal in the final minute of the championship game of the MLS Cup Playoffs. 

He went on to play for Wales in the 2022 World Cup before he retired from professional soccer. 

“They know how to lose but they celebrate every win like you have won the championship. He will definitely enjoy it,” Bale continued about Major League Soccer. 

Messi is poised to join an Inter Miami squad that has struggled this season and currently sits in last place in the Eastern Conference. 

His deal is reportedly worth as much as $150 million before adding on deals with Adidas, Apple TV and Fanatics.