The world of football seems to largely recognize goal scorers more than anything else. The contribution given by goalkeepers, defenders and midfielders in a team winning titles is rarely recognized when awarding best performers.
Recently, Lionel Messi won the Ballon d’Or accolade and there was no hiding that the biggest yardstick was the goals he had scored during the period. There’s no hiding the fact that he is a big player, the best the world has seen in the last 15 years or so but basing performance largely on goals scored was found to be a bit skewed.
The most important element of a game, and winning, that mostly goes unrecognized, is the assist. The assist providers are rarely awarded even though they play a larger role as king makers. Here’s a list of the best assist providers over the last five calendar years.
2020 – Lionel Messi: The 34-year old Argentine remains a key player even after leaving Barcelona in the summer. In the calendar year 2020, Messi provided 26 assists in 44 matches while at the Spanish giants.
2019 – Kevin De Bruyne: The 30-year old Belgian international was a key player for Manchester City as they continued with their dominance in the Premier League. He provided assists for 23 goals, all these coming in 47 matches, making him the best provider in that calendar year.
2018 – Luis Suarez: The Uruguayan is now 34 and getting well past his best years. At his prime though, he was one of the most lethal forwards in world football. One of these years happened to be in 2018, when at Barcelona, he provided a total of 27 assists in 50 matches for the La Liga giants.
2017 – Neymar Jr.: The year 2017 will be remembered for the most expensive transfer deal that saw Brazilian international Neymar Jr switch from Barcelona to French giants PSG. The year belonged to the forward in more than just one way. That year he was also the man with the most assists in Europe, having created 27 across 47 matches for Barcelona and PSG. His reunion with Messi at PSG was a move to reignite their fire while at Barcelona but he would shortly suffer a long term injury and fans have been denied the chance to see the two great creatives play together.
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2016 – Lionel Messi: The best part of the last 10 years has without doubt belonged to Lionel Messi. Rightly, he is the only player to top the list of assists in Europe two times in the last five years. In 2016, he had 28 assists in 51 matches while at Barcelona, making him the highest provider.