Revealed: Arsenal star tipped to top of best 2019/20 Europa League performances
Ahead of Friday's Europa League final between Sevilla and Inter it's time to remember some of the standout moments of what has been an extremely long campaign in UEFA's secondary club competition.
For the second straight Europa League campaign there have been six instances of perfect WhoScored 10 ratings. Our rating system caps a player performance at 10 but behind the scenes we are able to see exactly what performances were the best and rank them.
6. Esteban Granero (Espanyol) vs Ludogarets, 7/11/19
Former Real Madrid midfielder Esteban Granero kicks off the countdown following his 10 rating against Ludogarets back in November. The 33-year-old assisted Espanyol's opening two goals in a 6-0 win and registered nine key passes in total. Moreover, Granero completed three dribbles and 93.1% of his attempted passes, as well as registering 138 touches. The veteran remarkably now plays for Marbella FC in Spain's second division.
5. Claudiu Keseru (Ludogorets) vs CSKA Moscow, 19/9/19
The Europa League group stage was a mixed bag for Ludogorets, who dished out some hidings and were also on the receiving end of some heavy defeats. On this occasion, however, they ran out 5-1 winners over CSKA Moscow, with 33-year-old striker Claudiu Keseru netting a hat-trick, the first of this season's competition. The veteran striker hit the target with four of his six attempts and also registered two key passes.
4. Lautaro Martinez (Inter) vs Shakhtar Donetsk, 17/8/20
Lautaro Martinez's performance in Inter's 5-0 thumping of Shakhtar Donetsk will still be fresh in the memory as it only happened on Monday. The Inter striker garnered the only perfect 10 rating of the knockout phase of the competition after scoring twice and registering one assist in the semi-final rout. The 22-year-old hit the target with all four shots on target, completed three dribbles and won as many aerial duels against the Ukranian side.
3. Nicolo Zaniolo (Roma) vs Istanbul Basaksehir, 19/9/19
Roma kickstarted their Europa League campaign in ideal fashion with a big 4-0 win over Turkish side Istanbul Basaksehir in their opening group game, with Nicolo Zaniolo playing a lead role. The Italy international played a direct hand in three of the goals, scoring once and registering two assists. Zaniolo managed four shots, created three goalscoring chances in total and completed 93.6% of his attempted passes. Moreover, Zaniolo completed eight dribbles.
2. Gabriel Martinelli (Arsenal) vs Standard Liege, 3/10/19
Arsenal opened their group stage campaign with two wins from two with seven goals scored and none conceded. Gabriel Martinelli ran riot in gameweek two, playing a direct hand in three goals in their 4-0 win at home to Standard Liege. The Brazilian, on just his European debut, scored twice and registered one assist. Martinelli, 19, had seven attempts in total and registered five key passes.
1. Munir El-Haddadi (Sevilla) vs F91 Dudelange, 7/11/19
Munir will understandably feel aggreived when he is named as a substitute in Sevilla's Europa League final with Inter on Friday as the former Barcelona forward played a key role in their progress out of the group. Munir scorde a hat-trick in a 5-2 win away to F91 Dudelange back in November in what is, statistically, the best performance of the entire campaign. The 24-year-old hit the target with four of his six attempts, had 99 touches of the ball, and registered five key passes. Moreover, Munir completed three dribbles and won two fouls. He even contributed defensively with four tackles.