5 Best Players in the Champions League This Season: According to Stats
Who have been the five most impressive players in the Champions League group stages?
It's a question we put to our friends at Whoscored.com and they've been crunching the numbers to come up with a rundown.
There are some familiar faces in their list, as well as a couple of names you might not have expected to see.
Whoscored grades players from 0-10 based on their performance, so an average rating has been used here to determine the top five.
Without further ado, here's their ranking from five to one.
5. Cristiano Ronaldo
1 of 6Club: Real Madrid
Games played: 5
Goals: 5
Assists: 0
Shots: 32
Key passes: 14
Tackles: 1
Interceptions: 1
AVERAGE RATING: 8.07
4. Arturo Vidal
2 of 6Club: Juventus
Games played: 5
Goals: 3
Assists: 1
Shots: 16
Key passes: 10
Tackles: 23
Interceptions: 10
AVERAGE RATING: 8.15
3. Willian
3 of 6Club: Shakhtar Donetsk
Games played: 5
Goals: 4
Assists: 2
Shots: 15
Key passes: 10
Tackles: 7
Interceptions: 10
AVERAGE RATING: 8.41
2. Isco
4 of 6Club: Malaga
Games played: 4
Goals: 2
Assists: 2
Shots: 9
Key passes: 10
Tackles: 7
Interceptions: 2
AVERAGE RATING: 8.41
1. Lionel Messi
5 of 6Club: Barcelona
Games played: 5
Goals: 5
Assists: 2
Shots: 26
Key passes: 14
Tackles: 1
Interceptions: 3
AVERAGE RATING: 8.59
Results in Full
6 of 6Here's the full whoscored.com ranking—note that players must have made at least three appearances in the group stages of the Champions League to qualify. Here's the extended list.
No surprises to see Lionel Messi atop the list. The four below him have also been transparently impressive for their respective clubs in the group stages.
Interesting that no Borussia Dortmund players made the grade, considering their impressive campaign. In fact the highest they come is 20th position in the form of Lukasz Piszczek.
Paris Saint-Germain have no fewer than four players inside the top 20, including Zlatan Ibrahimovic, while the Premier League's highest entry is Chelsea's Oscar at 16th.
In terms of representation inside the top 10, Juventus (Vidal and Andrea Pirlo) and Shakhtar (Willian and Fernandinho) lead the way with two players each.
