Lionel Messi ranked above Benzema as best performing player in Europe this season

PSG fans will probably say otherwise

Player rankings should always be taken with a pinch of salt. Most of the time they are devised from stats and stats only, with no thought for their actual all-round game.

Lionel Messi is a prime example of this. Since his summer move to Paris Saint-Germain, the Argentine has failed to hit the heights that he set at Barcelona (albeit, they are extremely high) and has even been booed by home supporters this year.

Messi ranks ahead of some big-performing players this season

The 34-year-old has just four league goals to his name but has recorded 13 assists as he helped PSG to the Ligue 1 title, which they officially secured after a 1-1 draw with Lens at the weekend.

However, despite his somewhat underwhelming start to life with the French champions, it emerges that it hasn’t been all bad, with Messi supposedly ranked as one of the best players in Europe this season.

According to stats website WhoScored, only Robert Lewandowski and Kylian Mbappé rank ahead of the former Barça man, with the rankings based on the average match ratings for players in the Premier League, La Liga, Ligue 1, Serie A and the Bundesliga.

Lewandowski and Messi’s teammate had a ranking of 7.93 and 7.91 respectively, while Messi had a score of 7.71. Controversially, however, Messi actually ranks above Real Madrid star Karim Benzema, despite the Los Blancos forward scoring 41 goals in all competitions – 25 of those coming in the league.

Benzema is also the favourite to win this year’s Ballon d’Or and shares fourth place with Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah, with the pair both achieving a rating of 7.68.

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