Featured Image Credit: Alamy
Topics: Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Mohamed Salah, Kylian Mbappe, Karim Benzema, Robert Lewandowski
Marcus Chan
Topics: Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Mohamed Salah, Kylian Mbappe, Karim Benzema, Robert Lewandowski
Lionel Messi has been named in WhoScored’s team of the season made up of the best rated players from Europe’s top 5 leagues.
Argentine great Messi made the switch to Paris Saint Germain after leaving Barcelona in the summer, after more than 20 years spent at the Catalan club, where he came through the ranks to become the club’s greatest ever player, and arguably the greatest player to ever grace a football pitch, Messi made the switch to Ligue 1, in search for a new challenge.
His arrival in Paris carried great expectations, he was thought to be the missing puzzle piece that could allow PSG to finally reach the pinnacle of European football by winning the Champions League. Messi, along with Neymar and Kylian Mbappe were thought to be an unstoppable force.
Things didn’t turn out like that unfortunately, domestically, PSG always do well so there were no surprises that they managed to regain the Ligue 1 title after losing out to Lille last season. But their Champions League woes continued, an inspired Karim Benzema helped Real Madrid send PSG packing in the last 16 stage of the competition.
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Despite only having six goals to his name, Messi managed 14 assists in the 21/22 season, which ranked third in the whole of Europe. He also made 19 accurate through balls, which helped earn him a WhoScored rating of 7.77, and a place in their team of the season, occupying the right side of midfield.
Many fans will be shocked to see Messi included in the team of the season, his arch rival Cristiano Ronaldo was not included, despite having more goal contributions than the PSG man. Other wingers left out included Sadio Mane and Son Hueng-Min.
There were four Premier League representatives in the team, Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joel Matip along with Manchester City's Joao Cancelo and Kevin De Bruyne, however, no room for the Golden Boot winner Mo Salah.
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Messi's PSG teammate, Kylian Mbappe made the team and has the highest rating, Mbappe has been rated as the European player of the season. The Frenchman definitely earned that accolade after ending the season with 28 goals and 17 assists.
Perhaps no surprise that Robert Lewandowski and Karim Benzema made it into the team, with both men scoring for fun throughout the 21/22 season. Lewandowski's 35 goals made him the highest scoring player in Europe, he also attempted more shots than any other player with 161 attempts.