Where Do Messi, Suarez, Neymar Feature Among Europe's Most Productive Attackers?
Barcelona's front three of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar strike fear into opposition defences every time they take to the pitch, and everybody knows just how pivotal they are to the team's success. Then again, knowing how good they are and stopping them are two different things for opponents to wrestle with.
But how do the trio compare to the rest of the best in European football this season?
Barca are the top scorers in La Liga this term, but there's more to being a successful attacker at the elite level than merely putting the ball in the net.
Criteria and Eligibility
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Messi perhaps helped redefine what it means for forwards to not just be goalscorers, but to contribute to the team's attack in a much more rounded way. So, to find Europe's most productive and effective front men, we're combining three key metrics to see which players come out on top:
- Shots per game
- Key passes per game
- Dribbles per game
The total combined score is used to rank the attackers. Where there is a tie, league goals scored will determine who finishes higher.
We've used WhoScored.com as our source, so any player in the top 100 from Europe's top five leagues in each of those statistical categories is eligible, as long as they have played around 1,300 minutes or more this season (no Gareth Bale; no Arjen Robben) and are part of a forward line, not midfielders.
In other words, Suso and Eden Hazard are considered, but Paul Pogba and Thiago Alcantara are not. We're also looking for the genuine, established stars of the game who can be relied upon to keep up their form from this term, so those who are in the top 100 but unlikely to remain there over the long term (hello to the likes of Andros Townsend and Sylvain Marveaux) are also not counted.
Honourable Mentions...and Luis Suarez
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We're not even into the countdown itself and the first noteworthy name cropping up is one of the front three themselves—Suarez ranks 31st in our list, with a combined score of 3.1.
Naturally, he's more shot-focused than the other two, but don't think for a moment that being around the 30 mark means a poor campaign; he's one place ahead of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Borussia Dortmund and also just ahead of Iago Aspas, Mauro Icardi and Harry Kane.
Selected others:
29th: Antoine Griezmann, Atletico Madrid, 4.9
27th: Robert Lewandowski, Bayern Munich, 6.1
24th: Diego Costa, Chelsea, 6.2
23rd: Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Manchester United, 6.3
19th: Paulo Dybala, Juventus, 6.6
14th: Roberto Firmino, Liverpool, 7.2
11th: Dries Mertens, Napoli, 7.3
10. Edin Dzeko, Roma
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Into the top 10 and first up is AS Roma centre-forward Edin Dzeko.
The Bosnian has a score of 7.3, the same as Mertens, but he has scored 17 this season in Serie A—one goal more than the Napoli man and more goals than anyone else in Serie A. That pushes him into our 10, and deservedly so as he leads Roma's charge to rein in Juventus at the top of the table.
Dzeko is a shot monster, contributing far more of those each game than passes or dribbles.
9. Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid
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A score of 7.4 keeps Cristiano Ronaldo highest for Real Madrid...and indeed the highest challenger from La Liga not playing for Barcelona.
If Dzeko is a shot monster, Ronaldo is even more so; with 5.6 per game on average, he attempts more than any other player in Europe's top five leagues.
It's fair to say reports of his demise are somewhat premature, and Ronaldo is still looking likely to fire Madrid to the title in Spain.
8. Philippe Coutinho, Liverpool
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The modern wide forward is part playmaker, part goal threat—and part industrious outlet to win back possession.
Philippe Coutinho epitomises the role and performs each task with huge quality for Liverpool, taking eighth place in our ranking with a score of 7.6.
A left-sided forward most often, Coutinho is one of the more balanced and rounded players in our top 10, and is, in fact, one of only six players from all the many dozens monitored who claims over 2.0 per game in shots, dribbles and key passes.
7. Sergio Aguero, Manchester City
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Seventh place is Sergio Aguero, Manchester City's striker who has recently lost his starting place to new signing Gabriel Jesus.
A 7.6 rating for Aguero is the same as Coutinho, but the Argentinian attacker has 11 league goals this season to Coutinho's five, pushing him higher.
Aguero remains a lethal striker, but he mixes plenty of shots with constant runs at the opposition defence, making the most of his power and acceleration in one-on-one situations.
6. Alejandro Gomez, Atalanta
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The highest-ranked player in Serie A is not Dybala, Gonzalo Higuain, Dzeko or anyone else, but Atalanta's Papu Gomez, the charismatic Argentinian-born forward.
Gomez racked up a score of 8.2 all told, thanks to his combination of on-the-ball technique and set-piece delivery, which gains him key passes thanks to unerring accuracy.
Capable of playing wide or centrally, he's a threat when in possession and will shoot from any range once he has cut infield.
5. Eden Hazard, Chelsea
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A score of 8.6 puts Chelsea's Hazard into the top five, and it's fair to say the Belgian is having one of the seasons of his career.
With the Blues back on track in the Premier League and Hazard freed to wreak havoc against opposition defences in the team's 3-4-3 system, he has been creating chances for his team-mates as often as for himself...and, of course, he remains one of the top talents in Europe in terms of dribbling.
Only three players have made more dribbles in the top five leagues than Hazard, and two of them are ranked higher.
4. Allan Saint-Maximin, Bastia
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One of those players ranked higher than Hazard is Allan Saint-Maximin, with an 8.8 scoreline as he shines for Bastia in Ligue 1.
A huge 4.8 dribbles per game is the foundation for his high score, but the versatile forward has more than just slaloming runs to his game and gets shots in from range with great frequency.
At just 19 years of age, it's fair to suggest there will be one or two (dozen) bigger clubs eyeing his talents this summer.
3. Alexis Sanchez, Arsenal
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Level with Saint-Maximin on 8.8, but having scored far more league goals, Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez takes third spot here.
The former Barca man has moved infield from a wide-forward role to the main central striker for the Gunners this year, to great effect more often than not as his movement and aggression gives defenders countless problems.
Sanchez has rattled in 15 goals, but he's not all about the shots—more key passes than Coutinho and more dribbles than Aguero show what an all-round talent the Chilean is.
2. Lionel Messi, Barcelona
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So it's Barcelona's dynamic duo who take the top two spots, and perhaps surprisingly for some, Messi is in second.
A whopping 10.3 score puts him well clear of the nearest challengers for the silver-medal spot, and it's no shock to see that he's one of the few players capable of scoring high in every department.
Messi averages 4.7 shots per game, the third-highest behind Dzeko and Ronaldo, but he also scores extremely well in both dribbling and key passes. But not quite well enough...
1. Neymar, Barcelona
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It's Neymar who takes top spot, the left-sided Brazilian forward who has found it tough going in front of goal this season.
The second-highest dribbling tally in Europe's top five leagues (only Adama Traore manages more) is the starting point for Neymar's 11.3 total score, but he is also third for key passes per game, highlighting just how much he brings to the team and how important he is even when he doesn't score.
Indeed, despite only netting five times in league play, it's admirable and points to Neymar's strength of character that his overall form hasn't dropped, and he still contributes heavily to Barcelona's game.
For overall contribution and productivity in key attacking metrics, Neymar takes the gold.
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