Six of the Best: Individual performances in Europe this season

While WhoScored.com ratings are capped at 10, that’s not to say there haven’t been a number of star performances in Europe’s top six leagues this season that haven’t been more impressive than others. All in all there have been 26 individual performances that have heralded a 10 out of 10 rating this season, but here we reveal the very best of them.

Nikola Kalinic (Fiorentina) vs Cagliari - full match stats

The October clash between Fiorentina and Cagliari will rank among the most memorable of the Serie A season so far, and that is certainly the case for Viola hitman Kalinic. One down to their hosts in 63 seconds, Paulo Sosa’s side came back in emphatic fashion to take a 5-1 lead within 51 minutes, only to set up a nervy finish by conceding twice more with plenty of time to spare.

As it was, the game ended 5-3 to the visitors and they had their Croatian striker to thank. Having flicked home the equaliser in the first half, Kalinic picked out Bernadeschi superbly to give the away side the lead. He then curled home his second and Fiorentina’s fourth before the interval, before heading home shortly after half time to complete his second hat-trick for the club and put an end to a disappointing start to the season having scored just once in the league beforehand.

With four of five shots hitting the target, two key passes, two dribbles and a superb 89.5% pass accuracy, Kalinic’s performance was statistically the best in Serie A this season.

Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal) vs West Ham - full match stats

Similarly to Kalinic, Alexis Sanchez earned the highest WhoScored.com rating in his league this season with a star showing in a 5-goal haul for Arsenal. The Chilean played a key role in the opening goal of the game at the Olympic Stadium, profiting from an Ogbonna mistake before skipping past Reid and squaring for Ozil to tap into an empty net, and would go on to steal the show thereafter.

With the game still in the balance with 20 minutes remaining, Sanchez turned and left Masuaku for dead before firing low across goal past Randolph, sparking a five goal flurry. His second and Arsenal’s third came from outside the box before a quite remarkable hat-trick strike to round off a 5-1 win as he raced through on goal, stepped over the ball and lifted it over the Hammers keeper with the same foot to complete a truly memorable Premier League treble.

With four of five shots on target, five key passes and three dribbles, his uncapped rating score was the highest in England’s top-flight since October last year, when Gini Wijnaldum hit four past Norwich.

Jorginho (Arouca) vs Moreirense - full match stats

The most recent of the top performances in this leaderboard, coming as it did just last weekend, Arouca youngster Jorginho has made quite the impression since breaking into the side. His strong start to life in the first team - only making his first appearance of the season last month following a move early in the year from Manchester City’s youth academy - culminated in a man of the match display against Moreirense.

The 21-year old put the visitors in front early on, placing an effort home on the volley from a Mateus cross before returning the favour for his teammate to double Arouca’s lead. Mateus then turned provider for the youngster once more, who quelled any fears of a fightback from the hosts to put the away team 3-1 up with a fine strike off the bar from outside the box.

While there was no small slice of luck in Jorginho’s hat-trick goal given he scored straight from a corner, the winger had a hand in all four goals in a 4-1 win, completed four dribbles and four tackles for the highest rating score of the season in Liga NOS.

Yannick Carrasco (Atletico Madrid) vs Granada - full match stats

Staying on the subject of young wingers, Yannick Carrasco had a game that he will never forget when Atletico hosted lowly Granada back in October. In what has been a disappointing league campaign to date, Atleti’s 7-1 drubbing of their visitors to the Calderon two months ago is undoubtedly a standout performance from Diego Simeone’s men, and one inspired by their Belgian flyer.

After a sensational Isaac Cuenca strike had given the underdogs a shock lead, Carrasco hammered home the equaliser from a corner before giving the hosts the lead with a deflected effort just before the break. While his second was scrappy the 23-year old’s hat-trick goal was superbly taken after a cut back from Griezmann, before the former Monaco man turned provider having already earned the match ball by the hour mark.

Carrasco put Nico Gaitan through for his second and Atletico’s fifth before teeing up veteran midfielder Tiago having seen his own effort blocked late in the game. He is one of only two players this season to have a direct hand in 5 goals in a single match…

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Borussia Dortmund) vs Hamburg - full match stats

That brings us on nicely to our runner-up thus far, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s comeback game from an internal suspension that saw him dropped in the Champions League proving quite memorable. While his goals in a 5-2 victory over Hamburg might not have been the most beautiful, he was still on hand to put a woeful HSV defence to the sword.

The Gabonese striker’s first goal was a simple tap in from a rebound, before another open goal doubled Dortmund’s lead following a catastrophic Johan Djourou back pass. There was more comical defending and indeed goalkeeping for his hat-trick, which came inside half an hour, though his fourth was a sweet strike across a hapless Rene Adler to put the hosts 4-0 up. Hamburg got one back before Aubameyang’s neat lay off allowed Ousmane Dembele to get in on the act and ensure all was rosy again between the forward and Thomas Tuchel once again.

Having scored with all four of his shots on target and registered 3 key passes in the victory, Aubameyang is the only one of three players to score four goals in a game this season - along with Cavani and Mertens - to make the top 6 here.

Lionel Messi (Barcelona) vs Real Betis - full match stats

It may seem odd that the performance with the fewest goals here tops the pile but such was Lionel Messi’s majestic display against Real Betis back in August, no player has been able to beat his rating score since. The Argentine played a part in Barca’s opener, picking out Jordi Alba to cut back for Arda, before netting a sensational second to regain the blaugrana’s lead after a Gonzalo Castro equaliser.

He then played the ball leading to the assist for Luis Suarez’s first and Barca’s third, before picking out the Uruguayan himself to complete a stunning break away team goal that few others could replicate. Messi then scored his own second goal just a minute later - both coming from outside the box - to give the hosts a 5-1 lead that eventually changed to 6-2, and while it was Suarez that bagged the hat-trick on the day there was little doubt as to the start of the show.

With a whopping 12 shots, with 5 on target, 6 chances created and 6 successful dribbles the magician was at his world beating best to turn in the best performance of the season in Europe’s top six leagues.