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The Two Lionel Messi Masterclasses That Saw L'Equipe Dish Out A 10/10 Rating

The Two Lionel Messi Masterclasses That Saw L'Equipe Dish Out A 10/10 Rating

Only nine players have had the 10/10 rating bestowed upon them...

Josh Lawless

Josh Lawless

Dušan Tadić's world-class performance for Ajax in their stunning Champions League round of 16 second leg win over Real Madrid on Tuesday night saw him become the ninth player to receive the coveted 10/10 rating by L'Équipe since 1988.

The French newspaper are renowned for being extremely harsh markers but had no choice but to give the former Southampton man the optimum score courtesy of his insane display, which comprised of two glorious first-half assists and a wonderful curling effort in the second.

L'Équipe handed out its first perfect rating to former Sochaux ace Franck Sauzée in 1988, and only five players, including Tadić, have received the rating in the post-2000.

As you can see in the above list, a certain Lionel Messi is the only player to have the 10/10 rating bestowed upon him on more than one occasion and when you see the two displays, it's hard to argue.

The first came in 2010 when Messi single-handedly blitzed Arsenal in the Champions League, scoring four goals and promoting Arsene Wenger to describe him as "a PlayStation player".

Then, just two years later, he came up with an even better individual performance on a Champions League night at the Nou Camp when he smashed FIVE goals past Bayer Leverkusen in a 7-1 annihilation. Some of these goals are just silly.

Even though he's not getting any younger, there's every chance Messi completes the hat-trick of tens before he eventually hangs up his boots.

Image: PA
Image: PA

Prior to Tadic's grade, Messi's former teammate Neymar joined the 10/10 club last year thanks to four-goal haul as PSG hit Dijon for eight in Ligue One.

He became the second Brazilian to achieve the feat afer Carlos Eduardo, who notched five in a 7-2 demolition of Guingamp back in 2014.

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Topics: Football News, FC Barcelona, Football, Barcelona, Neymar, Lionel Messi, Ajax, Dusan Tadic, Champions League