Federico Valverde becomes 20th player to earn perfect 10/10 rating from L'Equipe. Who are the rest?
Federico Valverde earned a 10/10 rating from L'Equipe for his performance against Manchester City, becoming the 20th player to achieve the rare honour. So, who else has managed a perfect score?
On Wednesday night, Valverde produced an all-time individual display, scoring a first half hat-trick for the Spanish giants in their Champions League round of 16 first-leg win over City.
Trent Alexander-Arnold described the Uruguayan midfielder as "the most underrated footballer on the planet" in his post-match comments, while Thierry Henry brought up some of his former teammates to sum up the display.
“Fede Valverde was not only Bergkamp today," Henry said on CBS Sports. "He was Thuram, Bergkamp, Makelele. He was everybody."
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French publication L'Equipe went as far as giving Valverde their coveted 10/10 rating – a prize reserved for only the best individual displays. He joins the likes of Erling Haaland and Robert Lewandowski on the 19-player list.
So, who else has been handed the coveted 10 over the years?
Franck Sauzee & Bruno Martini, France U21s 3-0 Greece U21s, 1988
Sauzee and Martini were the first players to record perfect 10s, and they did so in the same game.
After playing out a goalless draw in the first leg of their under-21 European Championship against Greece, France went on to secure a famous victory in Besancon, with Sauzee netting a brace.
Martini, meanwhile, made a handful of great saves to keep his side in front.
Oleg Salenko, Russia 6-1 Cameroon, 1994
Salenko remains the only player in history to score five goals in a World Cup match.
Having scored once in the tournament already, he went on to share the Golden Boot with Hristo Stoichkov, despite Russia not progressing past the group stages.
Asked how often he gets reminded about those five goals, Salenko told FourFourTwo in 2014: "Every day. That’s the great thing about the World Cup – the whole world is watching, and if you do something spectacular you'll be remembered forever."
Lars Windfeld, Aarhus 1-0 Nantes, 1997
Few gave Danish outfit Aarhus much hope when they were drawn against Nantes in the first round of the UEFA Cup in 1997/98. Yet, having held the French side to a 2-2 draw at home, they nicked a 1-0 victory in the second leg.
Torben Piechnik scored the goal, but the standout performer that day was Lars Windfeld, who produced an array of outrageous saves.
Lionel Messi, Barcelona 4-1 Arsenal, 2010 // Barcelona 7-1 Leverkusen, 2012
Some 13 years after their last perfect rating, L'Equipe handed out a 10/10 to a fresh-faced Messi, who scored all four goals for Barcelona as they progressed to the Champions League semi-finals.
Two years later, L'Equipe handed him another perfect score after scoring five Champions League goals in a single game against Bayer Leverkusen.
Bernd Leno, who was in goal for the German side, was chipped twice by the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner.
Robert Lewandowski, Dortmund 4-1 Madrid, 2013
One of Robert Lewandowski's most memorable performances came in 2013, when he scored four against Real Madrid at Signal Iduna Park. He remains the only player to score a Champions League hat-trick against Real Madrid in the Champions League era
Carlos Eduardo, Nice 7-2 Guingamp, 2014
Eduardo scored 10 goals for Nice in the 2014/15 campaign, with half of them coming in a 7-2 mauling of Guingamp. Among his five-goal haul was a 30-yard free kick.
Neymar, PSG 8-0 Dijon, 2018
Neymar was handed top marks by L'Equipe after scoring four goals in Paris Saint-Germain’s 8-0 victory over Dijon, but he was jeered by the home crowd after denying Edinson Cavani the chance to become the club's all-time top scorer.
Unai Emery defended him after the match but teammate Thomas Meunier described it as "a bit of a shame", adding: "He could have given him the ball, it would have been a nice gesture of fair play."
Dusan Tadic, Ajax 4-1 Real Madrid, 2019
Ajax dismantled Real Madrid in one of the Champions League's biggest upsets in 2019.
Dusan Tadic was instrumental in the win, notching a goal and two assists to help Erik ten Hag's side complete an incredible turnaround.
It was the first time Ajax had progressed in a Champions League knockout stage tie since the 1996-97 campaign.
Lucas Moura, Spurs 3-2 Ajax, 2019
Two months after Tadic's perfect rating and Lucas Moura earned a 10/10 score after the Brazilian scored a dramatic 96th-minute winner to set up an all-English Champions League final against Liverpool.
After a quiet first half, Moura also scored twice in quick succession to put Spurs within a goal of reaching the final. The rest, as they say, is history.
The forward was later described as a "superhero" by Mauricio Pochettino. Fitting words, really.
Serge Gnabry, Bayern 7-2 Spurs, 2019
Gnabry scored four goals as Bayern dismantled Tottenham in the Champions League. “I never dreamed I’d score four goals,” said Gnabry, who used to play for Arsenal. “The pressure helped. My father told me I had to play well.”
It was an evening to forget for the North London club as they conceded seven at home for the first time in a major competition.
Kylian Mbappe, France 8-0 Kazakhstan, 2021
Mbappe produced a masterclass in a 2021 World Cup qualifier against Kazakhstan at the Parc de Princes, becoming the first person to score four goals for the France national team since Just Fontaine in 1958.
France booked their spot at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar that day, but many remember the match for Mbappe's heroics.
Alban Lafont, Nantes 3-1 PSG, 2022
Lafont produced one of the greatest goalkeeping displays in Nantes' history in 2022 as they claimed a historic three points over Paris Saint-Germain.
The Ligue 1 champions clocked 3.93 xG in the game, yet Lafont only conceded once while making a series of huge saves. In fact, he stopped six one-on-ones, denying the likes of Lionel Messi and Mbappe with some superb stops.
Erling Haaland, Man City 6-3 Man United, 2022 // Man City 7-0 RB Leipzig, 2023
Haaland made Premier League history by becoming the first player to register a third successive home hat trick when he scored three in the Manchester derby. The Norwegian also laid on an assist for good measure.
A year later, he scored his fifth hat-trick of the 2022/23 campaign as Manchester City claimed a resounding 7-0 win over RB Leipzig in the Champions League last-16.
Rather controversially, Pep Guardiola brought Haaland off when he was just a goal away from securing a double hat-trick.
Dominik Livakovic, Croatia 1-1 Brazil (4-2 on pens), 2022
Livakovic’s efforts in the World Cup quarter-final saw him almost single-handedly stop Brazil. He made 11 saves during the match and was influential in the penalties shoot-out.
His stop to keep out Rodrygo proved decisive as the Croatians went on to win the shoot-out and advance to the semi-final.
Ademola Lookman, Atalanta 3-0 Leverkusen, 2024
Lookman scored a hat-trick for Atalanta in their Champions League clash against Bayer Leverkusen, earning a perfect 10 from L'Equipe for his "magnificent" performance.
"It's the perfect match," said the French publication. "He scored three goals almost single-handedly in a European Cup final against a team that was the opposition's favorite. It ticks all the boxes of the 10."
Donovan Leon, Auxerre 0-0 PSG, 2024
Another goalkeeping masterclass against PSG. Donovan Leon made 11 saves on the night, holding the French giants to a goalless draw.
"I'm very happy," he said in his post-match interview. "A game like that where we don't concede a goal is obviously a great source of satisfaction. Of course, when you're called upon to make so many saves.
"You can't help but be satisfied with that kind of performance, but you can't let it go to waste," added Leon.
Desire Doue, PSG 5-0 Inter Milan, 2025
Desire Doue and PSG manager Luis Enrique both received 10/10 ratings after PSG beat Inter Milan 5-0 in the Champions League final last year.
L'Equipe described Doue's performance as simply "stunning" as the teenager produced a standout performance against the Italian side.
Joao Neves, PSG 6-3 Toulouse, 2025
Neves joined the L'Equipe elite in August last year, when he scored an outrageous hat-trick against Toulouse. These included two bicycle-kick goals in just seven minutes and a thunderous long-range effort.
"His hat-trick against Toulouse is perhaps the finest that Ligue 1 has ever seen," a statement read on the Ligue 1 website. It's hard to disagree.
Topics: Champions League, Federico Valverde, Real Madrid
Jack Kenmare