As UEFA announced the 10-man shortlist for the best player in Europe last season, it was unsurprising to see the Bundesliga dominate. Champions League finalists Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund boasted five candidates between them. The former are represented with four of the five in the form of Thomas Müller, Franck Ribéry, Arjen Robben and Bastian Schweinsteiger, while Robert Lewandowski was Dortmund’s entry.
With Lionel Messi, Robin van Persie, Cristiano Ronaldo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Gareth Bale - the only player not to have played in the Champions League last season - making up the 10, it’s expected to be a close run affair as UEFA aim to cut down the list to three at the beginning of August before the winner is announced at the end of next month.
The likelihood of Robben picking up the award is high following his impressive display in the 2-1 final win over Dortmund, with the Dutchman helping himself to a goal and an assist during the meeting at Wembley, ending the game as the WhoScored.com man of the match with a rating of 8.7.
We’ve found who is deserving of a place in the final three when the candidates are whittled down using WhoScored's unique average rating of each respective player in the European competition they participated in last season.
Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
The Argentine may’ve missed the final games of the season through injury, but with a Champions League rating of 7.74; Messi edges into the top three ahead of fourth placed Schweinsteiger (7.67). With eight goals - six of which were left footed, the most in the competition - and two assists in 11 European appearances for Barcelona last season, it was evident the Blaugrana lacked the flair and creativity of the striker, with the club winning 55.5% of the nine games he started compared to none of the three he didn’t.
This is further evidenced in that Barcelona averaged 1.89 goals per game when Tito Vilanova could call upon Messi, with that figure dropping substantially to 0.33 without the 26-year-old in the starting XI. Picking up the most man of the match awards (5) throughout the competition came as no shock for a player dubbed the best in the world and it’s arguable that his rating would’ve been higher had he not picked up an injury during the first leg 2-2 draw with Paris Saint-Germain at the quarterfinal stage.
It comes as somewhat of a little surprise to see that only one Barcelona player other than Messi - Jordi Alba (2) - scored more than one goal for the Catalan side throughout the entirety of the competition, further enhancing the notion of ‘Messidependencia’. It was evident throughout the knockout stages that whenever Messi didn’t play well, or at all even, Barcelona lacked the attacking verve and creative cohesion he boasts. It's hardly a shock considering only three Blaugrana players - Gerard Deulofeu (16 minutes), Thiago Alcántara (19.2) and Andrés Iniesta (29.7) - executed a successful dribble more often than Messi (39.1).
Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich)
The man who was ridiculed throughout the Champions League final, with no player missing more clear-cut goalscoring opportunities (2) than Robben, certainly had the last laugh having netted the winner in the dying embers of the encounter. With an average rating of 7.8, the Dutchman was the fifth highest rated player throughout the competition last season after replacing Toni Kroos in the starting XI following the German’s injury.
Attempting 41 dribbles - averaging one every 17.8 minutes - Robben boasted a success rate of 43.9% as he exhibited his attacking credentials to the watching world, proving a pivotal member of the Bayern side that romped to victory over Barcelona on their way to the final. Playing a key pass every 45.7 minutes would also have seen the Dutchman win over a number of plaudits as the club ended their 12-year wait for the Champions League trophy.
Being fouled 2.2 times per game further highlighted his attacking capabilities, with teams evidently keen to limit Robben’s impact on games by attempting to disrupt the rhythm of the Dutchman. However, they clearly failed to do as the winger netted four goals and helped himself to two assists over last season’s edition of the competition.
Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
Netting 12 goals over the course of last season's tournament - the most of any player and a 46% contribution to his team - Ronaldo’s average rating of 7.92 was bettered only by Willian (8.15) and Arturo Vidal (7.93) in the Champions League. While Real Madrid failed to land ‘La Decima’ after falling to a 4-3 aggregate defeat at the hands of Borussia Dortmund, the Portugal international was the main attacking threat for Los Blancos regardless of their semi final stumble in the competition.
His impressive goal tally came as little surprise as Ronaldo attempted the most shots per game (6.8) throughout the tournament, ending with a shot accuracy of 39.5%. Moreover, no player scored more clear-cut goalscoring opportunities than the striker (8), with his calmness in front of helping to see only Bayern Munich net more goals (30) than Real (26) in the Champions League last year.
Netting a goal every 2.7 shots on target further aids Ronaldo's claim to pick up the gong here, with the player tipped to be announced as one of the three finalists. Meanwhile only Robert Lewandowski (10) scored more goals with his right foot than the Real Madrid ace (9). Either way, with his average European rating being the highest of the 10 candidates nominated by UEFA, the Portugal international would be a deserving winner of the accolade next month.
Does Bales rating included the fact he was playing against far weaker opposition? 4/3 goals to assist ratio is not the best in the champions league so I wonder if he would have managed it against the best teams in Europe, not just the second string? My guess is that Spurs would struggle to get many clear attacking opportunities against Europe's elites and therefore Bales rating would suffer. It's like assuming a championship player (Rickie Lambert 27 goals 2011-12) would scores the same in the premier league (Rickie Lambert 15 goals 2012-13).
Who should be best player? Maybe best striker, Cristiano and Lewandowski..?
The award is given for accomplishments in domestic leagues too