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In football, the team creating the more assists, and in turn, the more goals, wins games.
Additionally, the more chances a team creates, the more opportunities they have to score goals. A good attacking team is one that not only converts its chances but also creates sufficient chances.
Nevertheless, creative players capable of frequently creating chances and assisting goals are often widely celebrated. That is because assists are deemed the next best metric (after goals) to determine a player's, and subsequently, a team's attacking prowess. The higher the number of assists, the more prolific a player is when it comes to creating chances.
2020 had no shortage of goals and, therefore, no shortage of assists either. Without further ado, let's take a look at 10 footballers from Europe's top-five leagues who assisted the most goals last year:
(Data as per Transfermarkt).
#10 Jordi Alba (Barcelona) - 16 assists
Matches played: 42
Assists/match: 0.38.
Jordi Alba has been a key player for Barcelona for nearly a decade. Currently playing his ninth season for the club, the 31-year-old has made 357 appearances for the club in all competitions, winning 14 major trophies, which includes five La Liga titles and one UEFA Champions League trophy.
During his time at Barcelona, the left-back notched 18 goals and 73 assists. In 2020 , the Spanish defender played 42 matches in all competitions for the club, registered 16 assists.
#9 Anthony Martial (Manchester United) - 16 assists
Matches played: 46
Assists/match: 0.35.
Playing his sixth season for Manchester United, Anthony Martial has been an inconsistent yet effective force in attack for the Red Devils over the years.
Capable of scoring goals and creating chances effortlessly on his day, the 25-year-old has scored 76 goals and assisted 48 in 242 matches for Manchester United.
In 2020, Martial played 46 matches in all competitions and finished the year with 16 assists, averaging 0.35 assists every match. He also scored 17 goals, helping Manchester United finish the year strongly.
#8 Hakan Calhanoglu (AC Milan) - 17 assists
Matches played: 42.
Assists/match: 0.4.
AC Milan have taken the world by storm in the ongoing 2020-21 season, as they currently sit atop the Serie A table, three points clear of their city rivals Inter Milan. Notably, Hakan Calhanoglu has been at the heart of all good things for the Rossoneri; he has appeared in every single league match for the club this season.
The 26-year-old attacking midfielder has scored 29 goals and assisted 45 during his three and a half seasons at the club. In 2020, Calhanoglu played 42 matches in all competitions for Milan, registering 17 assists.
#7 Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United) - 18 assists
Matches played: 45
Assists/match: 0.4.
Very few footballers in the world have been as impactful at a new club as Bruno Fernandes has been at Manchester United. Since his arrival in January 2020, the 26-year-old has been among the most effective players in the Premier League.
Apart from scoring 26 goals in 45 matches across competitions for the Red Devils in 2020, Fernandes also registered a cool tally of 18 assists, averaging 0.4 assists per match.
He averaged 0.98 goal-involvements (goals + assists) per match at the end of the calendar year for the club.
#6 Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain) - 19 assists
Matches played: 36
Assists/match: 0.53.
Despite having played just three-and-a-half seasons for Paris Saint-Germain so far, Kylian Mbappe is already the club's fourth-highest goal-scorer of all time.
The 22-year-old is widely hailed as one of the best players in the world.
He was won ten major trophies thus far in his career, which includes three Ligue 1 titles with PSG and the 2018 FIFA World Cup with France.
With PSG, Mbappe has played 144 matches in all competitions, registering a staggering 162 goal-involvements (104 goals and 58 assists).
2020 proved to be a good year for the France international. He scored 26 goals in 36 matches for PSG across all competitions and also notched up 19 assists.
#5 Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich) - 20 assists
Matches played: 36
Assists/match: 0.56.
Bayern Munich's Joshua Kimmich is one of the most talented footballers in the world at the moment. He is also known for his versatility, as he can play adeptly in midfield as well as in the right-back position.
The 25-year-old was integral to Bayern Munich's success in 2019-20, as they won the European treble.
They began the 2020-21 season by winning the UEFA Super Cup and the DFL-Supercup to make it five trophies in 2020.
Kimmich ended the year with 20 assists in 36 matches in all competitions for the Bavarian club, averaging 0.56 assists per match.
#4 Angel Di Maria (Paris Saint-Germain) - 20 assists
Matches played: 34
Assists/match: 0.59.
Paris Saint-Germain have dominated Ligue 1 for the past decade, and Angel Di Maria has played a key role in the club's domestic success.
The 32-year-old is in his sixth season at the club and has won 15 major trophies with the French side, including four league titles.
In 2020, the Argentina international was at his influential best, assisting 20 goals and scoring seven in 34 appearances across competitions for PSG. His assists/matches ratio of 0.59 is the joint-best among all players in Europe's top-5 leagues.
#3 Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) - 21 assists
Matches played: 41
Assists/match: 0.51.
Where does one even begin when talking about Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne?
Widely touted as one of the best midfielders in the world, the 29-year-old is absolutely sublime in setting up chances and assisting goals. In 242 appearances for Manchester City, he has assisted a remarkable 102 goals.
2020 proved to be no different, as the Belgium international notched up 21 assists in 41 matches for Manchester City, doing so at an average of 0.51 assists per match. He also scored 11 goals, taking his goal-involvements to 32 for the year.
#2 Thomas Müller (Bayern Munich) - 24 assists
Matches played: 46
Assists/match: 0.52.
The fact that Bayern Munich have won 26 major trophies during Thomas Müller's time at the club is no mere coincidence. The 31-year-old has been at the club since 2008 and has contributed handsomely to the club's success during this period.
Bayern Munich's unparalleled success in 2020 had a lot to do with Müller, as he pulled the strings throughout the year.
In the 46 matches he played for the club across competitions all year, he assisted 24 goals, doing so at the rate of 0.52 assists per match. He also scored 18 goals and finished the calendar year with a goal-involvement of 0.91 per match.
#1 Lionel Messi (Barcelona) - 26 assists
Matches played: 44
Assists/match: 0.59.
Lionel Messi may have scored fewer goals than usual in 2020, but in no way did that reduce his impact for Barcelona.
While his goal tally may have dipped (relatively speaking), the 33-year-old made up for it in the form of assists.
In 2020, no player in Europe's top-five leagues assisted more goals than Lionel Messi.
The Argentina international assisted 26 goals in 44 matches for the Catalan club, doing so at an average of 0.59 assists/match - the joint-best by any player during the year.
He scored the same number of goals - 26 - too, taking his total goal involvements to 52 in 44 appearances in the year, for an impressive 1.18 goal-involvements per match.
