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Somehow Lionel Messi Doesn't Make The Top 20 Free-Kick Takers In Europe

Somehow Lionel Messi Doesn't Make The Top 20 Free-Kick Takers In Europe

Numbers through data company STATS.

Nasir Jabbar

Nasir Jabbar

So, Lionel Messi doesn't make the top 20 best free-kick takers in Europe. Well, according to the numbers courtesy of data company STATS.

Barcelona's Argentine maestro produced another magical Camp Nou moment over the weekend, bagging a sublime free-kick as his side recorded yet another La Liga victory while keeping their unbeaten league record in tact.

But while Messi is a deadball specialist, he's not featured in the best free-kick takers.

Messi doing Messi things. Image: PA
Messi doing Messi things. Image: PA

STATS have crunched the all-important numbers on every FK taker around Europe since the start of the 2013/14 season.

Also, it's current players who must've had at least 20 attempts on goal from a free-kick.

Here's their findings:

20. Suso (AC Milan)

Goals: 3 - Attempts: 22 - Success rate: 13.64%

20. Gael Kakuta (Amiens)

Goals: 3 - Attempts: 22 - Success rate: 13.64%

20. Wissam Ben Yedder (Sevilla)

Goals: 3 - Attempts: 22 - Success rate: 13.64%

17. Wayne Rooney (Everton)

Goals: 4 - Attempts: 29 - Success rate: 13.79%

16. Romelu Lukaku (Manchester United)

Goals: 3 - Attempts: 21 - Success rate: 14.29%

15. Yaya Toure (Manchester City)

Goals: 4 - Attempts: 28 - Success rate: 14.29%

14. Zlatko Junuzovic (Werder Bremen)

Goals: 5 - Attempts: 35 - Success rate: 14.29%

13. David Alaba (Bayern Munich)

Goals: 6 - Attempts: 42 - Success rate: 14.29%

12. Miralem Pjanic (Juventus)

Goals: 11 - Attempts: 76 - Success rate: 14.47%

11. Markus Suttner (Brighton)

Goals: 4 - Attempts: 27 - Success rate: 14.81%

10. Mauricio Lemos (Sassuolo)

Goals: 3 - Attempts: 20 - Success rate: 15%

10. Henri Saivet (Newcastle)

Goals: 3 - Attempts: 20 - Success rate: 15%

10. Sejad Salihovic (Hamburg)

Goals: 3 - Attempts: 20 - Success rate: 15%

7. Marvin Plattenhardt (Hertha Berlin)

Goals: 6 - Attempts: 37 - Success rate: 16.22%

6. Federico Viviani (SPAL)

Goals: 5 - Attempts: 30 - Success rate: 16.67%

5. James Rodriguez (Bayern Munich)

Goals: 6 - Attempts: 36 - Success rate: 16.67%

4. Marcos Alonso (Chelsea)

Goals: 4 - Attempts: 22 - Success rate: 18.18%

3. Philippe Coutinho (Barcelona)

Goals: 5 - Attempts: 26 - Success rate: 19.23%

2. Paulo Dybala (Juventus)

Goals: 8 - Attempts: 38 - Success rate: 21.05%

1. Juan Mata (Manchester United)

Mata celebrates scoring a free-kick against Leicester City. Image: PA
Mata celebrates scoring a free-kick against Leicester City. Image: PA

Goals: 5 - Attempts: 22 - Success rate: 22.73%

So, there you have it - United's Spanish midfielder is the best free-kick taker via STATS' findings.

What's your take? Let us know.

(H/T Give Me Sport)

Featured Image Credit:

Topics: Football News, Football, Barcelona, Free-kick, Lionel Messi