Who Can Challenge Real Madrid's Assist Kings of the Last Decade?
Goalscorers are naturally a headline-grabbing act at most clubs, and given the nature and quality of Real Madrid's attackers and the sheer volume of goals that they net, that goes more than most.
But aside from the odd solo goal and set-piece specials, there's a whole other crowd of players who contribute to the ball eventually being put past the keeper—those involved in the build-up and the eventual assist-maker.
A constant source of chances, a creative wizard who can exploit spaces and has the technique to find team-mates in dangerous areas is worth just as much as the player who can regularly find the back of the net. Yet these players are sometimes overlooked, receive less praise and are called incomplete because they do not put the finishing touch on the move.
Real Madrid have goals galore in their squad this season, but who among Zinedine Zidane's selections can be the assist king of the year? And can they match the greats of the past decade who have put goals on a plate for their team-mates?
Data is from all competitions and from transfermarkt.co.uk.
2015/16: Lower Than Usual
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It's worth pointing out that although a high tally of assists suggests the team has a regular schemer in the ranks, a spread of assists and chance creation can be just as effective.
Contrast the seasons Real Madrid won the UEFA Champions League recently, last term under Zidane and 2013/14 under Carlo Ancelotti.
| Season | No. of players with at least 1 assist | No. of players with 10 assists or more | Total goals scored by Real Madrid players | No. of players scoring at least 1 goal |
| 13/14 | 20 | 4 | 159 | 15 |
| 15/16 | 18 | 6 | 138 | 18 |
A greater number of goals in all competitions scored by Real Madrid players under Ancelotti were created by an overall wider range of players overall, but the majority of them came from just four players who reached double figures in assists.
Last term, no Real Madrid player managed more than 15 assists in all competitions—the lowest figure since 2009/10.
In fact, in every season between 10/11 and 14/15, the highest assist tally was at least 22 and the average across that five-year period was a massive 25.8, so the drop-off to last term under Rafa Benitez and Zidane was significant. That said, more players contributed a telling amount, with half a dozen reaching double figures. The outcome for each campaign was, of course, a major trophy in Europe.
Gareth Bale and Ronaldo were ranked highest last year as both tallied 15, the same as Toni Kroos and Karim Benzema from the previous season, 14/15, who only placed third and fourth in the squad for that campaign.
End of the Galacticos Era
2 of 7Rolling back a whole decade, it was a Spanish player who topped the charts for assists two years in a row: Jose Maria Gutierrez Hernandez, better known to Real Madrid fans as Guti.
His haul of 18 in 2007/08 was the most significant tally around that time, with generally lower total assist totals of around 10 or a dozen in the years before and after. Guti was providing the ammunition for the likes of Raul, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Robinho that season.
Kaka, signed in 2009, was one of those who put an end to Guti's time in the team and the Brazilian managed a relatively low 12 to joint-top the assists chart in his debut season, before also claiming 16 assists a couple of years later. However, the total was only good enough for fourth that year.
The video shows Guti in his later years at the club, smartly assisting Karim Benzema in 2010.
James Rodriguez's Debut Season Promise
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Colombian attacking midfielder James Rodriguez was a monster of productivity in his debut season at the club, 2014/15, registering 17 goals and 18 assists—or a goal contribution every 100 minutes on the pitch.
His star has fallen since then with managerial and tactical changes, but as he has shown in the past couple of weeks, when the application is right, the talent will still flourish.
James' 18 assists were good enough for second place in 14/15, and the regularity and consistency of his output was as impressive as the final number itself: five assists by the end of October that season, and five in his last eight La Liga games of the campaign.
Find a way to fit him in the team and have him focused, and Real Madrid have a guaranteed source of goals—but the problem for James is, that also seems to go for a lot of other players.
BBC
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One of the world's most fearsome, balanced and consistent attacks: Karim Benzema, Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo, the BBC attack of Real Madrid.
While they are lethal in front of goal and paid huge money for their strike rates, all three have also contributed fantastic numbers of assists.
Bale's 15 was the joint-top haul last term and the Welshman took second place in the squad in 13/14 also, with 19 that year.
Ronaldo has on three occasions registered over 16 assists in a season, and the same goes for Benzema—one of the most intelligent strikers on the planet with the timing of his movements, his link play and his selflessness to lay on chances for others. Benzema's highest in a season is 21, while Ronaldo managed 22 in 14/15, the highest in the squad.
Injuries have restricted their involvement so far this term and only Bale has an assist, made for Ronaldo against Osasuna.
Mesut Ozil
5 of 7For many, Mesut Ozil is the assist king of Real Madrid.
The German shone both from the right and in the No. 10 role during his time at the Santiago Bernabeu. Ozil was a regular source of chances for the front line with his clever darting runs, well-timed through balls and peerless vision.
He was the top assist-maker three years in a row from 10/11 to 12/13, tallying 28, 29 and 24 in each of those seasons for the club. His 29 assists in 11/12 is comfortably the stand-out of the entire decade and there were plenty of supporters who were aghast at the club's decision to sell him to Arsenal.
Angel Di Maria
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If Ozil was the king, Angel Di Maria was the emperor.
The Argentine didn't quite reach as high a single tally as Ozil's 29, but he managed four consecutive seasons as one of Real Madrid's creators-in-chief and played a range of roles, from a wide forward to a central midfielder, box-to-box scene.
Di Maria recorded 26, 17, 18 and again 26 in his time at the Bernabeu, topping the assists charts the year after Ozil left as he shouldered even more responsibility, and he played a key role in the Champions League win that season.
Before leaving for Manchester Untied, Di Maria assisted 87 goals in total, six more than Ozil's 81.
This Season's Challengers?
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Already this season, eight players have registered an assist for Real Madrid—and the list does not yet include sure-fire guarantees such as Luka Modric, Marcelo Viera, Benzema or Cristiano Ronaldo.
It's worth noting that James, despite less than 160 minutes on the pitch, has two to his name already, an indication of just how decisive he is capable of being. However, the top two at present might be the most likely outside of the regular BBC attack to reach 20—if they played every game in their best roles, which won't be the case.
Toni Kroos is back in a more advanced central area for the most part with Casemiro holding, and the German is phenomenally talented at dictating play and finding killer passes from that area. Add in his set-piece delivery; responsibility to surge forward into the channels under Zidane and it's obvious he'd rack up the assists...but he'll also be restricted at times, playing the deeper role.
Lucas Vazquez is nowhere near as talented or technically gifted as Bale or Ronaldo, but his speed, exploitation of pace and selflessness would guarantee a huge haul of assists if he was a regular in the XI. An ability to break behind the back line and square or cut back the ball to onrunning forwards has already secured him three assists this term, but he's not a guaranteed starter.
As such, it's likely to be the front three who rise highest in Real Madrid's assist charts again, but with injuries worrying all three of them early on in the year it's unlikely they'll reach the crazy figures that Ozil and Di Maria aspired to in their time with Los Blancos.
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