The top 50 players in Europe - De Bruyne and Ronaldo miss out on top 5

We've been building towards this moment for over a week now but we are finally here. Having run through 40 of the best players from Europe's top five leagues this season, it's time to get serious and break down the top 10. Edition nine of our 10-part series will reveal players ranked 10 to 6 before we close in on top spot on Thursday.

Europe's Golden Boot favourite Ciro Immobile narrowly missed out on a top-10 berth in Tuesday's edition, while Lazio team-mate Luis Alberto also came close. Liverpool trio Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Virgil van Dijk were drawn out long ago but there are still plenty of big hitters to place. It's time to kick off the top 10 WhoScored rated players in Europe's top five leagues...

After a thoroughly disappointing 2018/19 campaign, it appeared Dimitri Payet was on the way out. Starting the 2019/20 season at 32 years old, coupled with the fact there have often been question marks about his dedication to fitness during his career, it was only natural to expect a decline. However, Payet has returned to the peak of his powers this season. In fact, in only one league campaign in the last decade has Payet garnered a higher WhoScored rating than his current return of 7.73 in 2019/20. Payet has played a direct hand in 13 league goals for Marseille this season and claimed the WhoScored Man of the Match award on eight occasions. Furthermore, a return of four key passes per game is the best in Europe's top five leagues this season.

To emphasise Payet's return to form that bit further, last season the France international finished the campaign as the 566th top WhoScored rated player in Europe's top five leagues. Almost 12 months on and the 33-year-old has cracked the top 10!

Sticking with Ligue 1, it is time to turn our attention to another creative maestro. Ditching Manchester United for Paris Saint-Germain was certainly the right career move for Di Maria, as the Argentina international has swiftly returned to his creative best. This season has seen Di Maria emerge as an even bigger player for the Ligue 1 outfit, as neither Neymar nor Kylian Mbappe have managed to stay fit for prolonged periods. The 32-year-old has played a direct hand in 22 goals in 26 league appearances in 2019/20, with a return of 14 assists ranking fourth across the top five leagues. Furthermore, Di Maria has registered at least eight more clear-cut goalscoring chances (32) than any other player.

After reaching double figures for both goals and assists in Ligue 1 last season, it was going to take some doing for the veteran to improve in 2019/20, but he has done just that. His WhoScored rating has improved 0.25 from last season to this and his ranking in Europe's top five leagues has improved eight positions to ninth.

2018/19 was a remarkable season for then-teenager Jadon Sancho but the Borussia Dortmund winger has taken his game to a whole new level this season. He has cemented himself as one of the best young prospects in world football and is deserving of the £100M+ move he will get back to the Premier League this summer. The 20-year-old was the first player in Europe's top five leagues this season to reach double figures for both goals and assists and has incredibly played a direct hand in 29 goals in 23 league appearances (14 goals, 15 assists). Furthermore, Sancho has scored and assisted in nine separate league games this season, more than any other player in Europe's top five leagues. Moreover, the England international has claimed the WhoScored Man of the Match award on six occasions.

Sancho's superb performances in 2019/20 have seen the youngster move up 10 places from where he finished last season as the eighth best player in Europe's top five leagues.

More was expected from Cristiano Ronaldo from an individual level in his first year at Juventus but he has certainly made strides to put that right in Serie A in 2019/20. With 12 league games left to go in the season, Ronaldo has already equalled his tally from the entirety of 2018/19 (21 goals). En route to reaching his 21 goals for the league campaign, Ronaldo scored in 11 straight matches, equalling the Serie A record first set by Gabriel Batistuta in the 1994-95 season and matched by Fabio Quagliarella for Sampdoria in the last campaign. Reaching the 20+ goal mark means Ronaldo has done so in every league campaign we have received Opta data since 2009. A return of 5.9 shots per game is also the most in Europe's top five leagues this season.

Ronaldo's improved form in front of goal has seen his WhoScored rating increase from 7.68 last season to 7.90 in 2019/20. Unfortunately for Ronaldo, he is not the only one that has improved this season. Ronaldo finished last season as the fifth top WhoScored rated player in Europe's top five leagues but currently sits in seventh for 2019/20, despite a vastly better WhoScored rating this time around.

The 2018/19 campaign was hugely frustrating for Kevin De Bruyne. Despite the fact Manchester City landed the domestic treble, injuries limited De Bruyne to just 19 league appearances. It's safe to say the 28-year-old has made up for lost time this season. De Bruyne has played a direct hand in 24 goals in 26 league appearances for the Premier League outfit. Indeed, only Thomas Muller has registered as many assists as De Bruyne (16) in Europe's top five leagues this season. Morover, a return of 3.7 key passes per game ranks only behind Dimitri Payet (4) on the continent. De Bruyne has also claimed the WhoScored Man of the Match award on seven occasions in that time.

Limited to just 19 league appearances in 2018/19 means De Bruyne did not manage a rank in Europe's top five leagues last season, missing out by just one game. He has, however, slotted in to sixth place on the continent for 2019/20. Not bad for a new qualifier.

Keep your eyes peeled for the final five in the WhoScored Top 50 on Thursday!

Countdown catch-up: 50-46, 45-41, 40-36, 35-31, 30-26, 25-21, 20-16, 15-11